2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Veteran, the Myth, the Legend: Preparing for Engineering Curriculum and Career

Presented at Military and Veterans Division (MVD) Technical Session 1

Despite historically high enrollments and curricular impacts, student veterans continue to be an understudied and under-resourced population on campus. Of concern, is the lack of research on stereotypes about student veterans and the impact of these stereotypes on student veterans themselves. Since the 1940s, GI Bill-supported student veteran enrollments have contributed to the diversity of students, perspectives, and ultimately, the kinds of programs offered at universities and colleges across the country. While student veteran populations have varied over time, the highest student veteran enrollments occurred in the decade following the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The US Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that over 1 million veterans and family members have used these benefits to attend college.

Student veterans continue to face myths, stereotypes, and bias on campus and in employment despite their growing presence on college campuses and the value they contribute to the classroom and their post-graduation employers. Myths about student veterans are persistent among the public and while not intentionally malicious, can impact student veteran learning outcomes and transition experiences [1].

The research reported in this paper investigates stereotypes of student veterans by using a counter-balanced survey with two populations: student veterans and non-veteran student peers. Questions from this survey sought agreement or disagreement regarding nine known student veteran stereotypes. Preliminary results from mixed model logistic analyses indicate that some of these myths are believed by non-veteran students. Additionally, study results show that student veterans themselves have internalized some of these negative perceptions. This report concludes with recommendations to better support student veterans inside the classroom and during early-career experiences.

Authors

Dr. Alyson Grace Eggleston Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Alyson Eggleston is an Associate Professor in the Penn State Hershey College of Medicine and Director of Evaluation for the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Her research and teaching background focuses on program assessment, STEM technical communication, industry-informed curricula, and educational outcomes veteran and active duty students.
Dr. Robert J. Rabb, P.E. Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Robert Rabb is the associate dean for education in the College of Engineering at Penn State. He previously served as a professor and the Mechanical Engineering Department Chair at The Citadel. He previously taught mechanical engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the United Military Academy and his M.S. and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. His research and teaching interests are in mechatronics, regenerative power, and multidisciplinary engineering.
Dr. Ronald W. Welch The Citadel [biography]

Ron Welch (P.E.) received his B.S. degree in Engineering Mechanics from the United States Military Academy in 1982. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1990 and 1999, respectively. He taught at The United States Military Academy during his 25 year military career. After retiring form the military he has taught at the University of Texas at Tyler and The Citadel, where he was the Dean of Engineering for 10 years.
Dr. Catherine Mobley Clemson University [biography]

Catherine Mobley, Ph.D., is a Professor of Sociology at Clemson University. She has over 30 years experience in project and program evaluation and has worked for a variety of consulting firms, non-profit agencies, and government organizations, including t

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