Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: Veterans
- All Subjects: Organizational Behavior
- Creators: Brunhaver, Samantha R
Description
An increasing number of military veterans are enrolling in college, primarily due to the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which provides educational benefits to veterans who served on active duty since September 11, 2001. With rigorous training, active combat situations, and exposure to unexpected situations, the veteran population is at a higher risk for traumatic brain injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and depression. All of these conditions are associated with cognitive consequences, including attention deficits, working memory problems, and episodic memory impairments. Some conditions, particularly mild TBI, are not diagnosed or treated until long after the injury when the person realizes they have cognitive difficulties. Even mild cognitive problems can hinder learning in an academic setting, but there is little data on the frequency and severity of cognitive deficits in veteran college students. The current study examines self-reported cognitive symptoms in veteran students compared to civilian students and how those symptoms relate to service-related conditions. A better understanding of the pattern of self-reported symptoms will help researchers and clinicians determine the veterans who are at higher risk for cognitive and academic difficulties.
ContributorsAllen, Kelly Anne (Author) / Azuma, Tamiko (Thesis director) / Gallagher, Karen (Committee member) / Department of Speech and Hearing Science (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Significant efforts are underway by engineering organizations to diversify their workforce. However, research findings on workplace diversity are mixed, with insufficient clarity into what makes heterogeneous work environments successful. Acknowledging the role of individual behavior in building diverse workplaces that are cohesive and productive, researchers have called for more theory-based investigation into individuals’ workplace behaviors and their determinants. This three-part study bridges the gap within an engineering context by leveraging Berry's acculturation framework (Berry, 1972, 2005) from cross-cultural psychology to examine the factors influencing engineers’ acculturation behaviors in workplaces. Acculturation refers to the process by which individuals adjust to people different from themselves in their daily interactions (Berry, 1972, 2005). Based on Berry’s framework, the study postulates four acculturation attitudes and behaviors for engineers—Integration, Assimilation, Separation, and Marginalization. Acculturation attitudes are based on acculturation preferences, such as the importance an individual places on retaining individual values and the importance an individual places on receiving acceptance from coworkers. These acculturation attitudes and perceived acceptance together influence behaviors. The first study designed and validated an instrument to measure engineers’ acculturation preferences, acculturation behaviors, and perceived acceptance from coworkers. The results provided complete to partial support for the expected correlations among factors. The second study conducted cluster and Chi-square analyses focusing on the two acculturation preferences. The results revealed four clusters corresponding to Berry’s acculturation attitudes and revealed findings, such as women’s preference for Integration attitude over men’s. The third study used a path model to gain insight into gender differences in engineers’ acculturation behaviors and revealed acceptance as a crucial factor. The results quantitatively substantiated prior findings, namely, that women engineers prefer Assimilation and Separation behaviors more and Integration behavior less mediated by factors related to acceptance.
The developed instrument and study findings offer researchers another lens to study organizations’ diversification efforts, along with other personal and contextual factors. The study findings could also help engineering organizations recruit employees with acculturation attitudes favorable to the organization’s diversity goals and design trainings that highlight the importance of coworker acceptance. Such interventions would facilitate the creation of more diverse work environments.
ContributorsAbhyankar, Rohini N. (Author) / Brunhaver, Samantha R (Thesis advisor) / Bekki, Jennifer (Committee member) / Jordan, Shawn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Prior research has provided evidence to suggest that veterans exhibit unique assets that benefit them in engineering education and engineering industry. However, there is little evidence to determine whether their assets are due to military service or other demographic factors such as age, maturity, or gender. The aim of this study is to discover, better understand, and disseminate the unique assets that veterans gained through military service and continue to employ as engineering students or professional engineers. This strength-based thematic analysis investigated the semi-structured narrative interviews of 18 military veterans who are now engineering students or professionals in engineering industry. Using the Funds of Knowledge framework, veterans’ Funds of Knowledge were identified and analyzed for emergent themes. Participants exhibited 10 unique veterans’ Funds of Knowledge. Utilizing analytical memos, repeated reflection, and iterative analysis, two overarching themes emerged, Effective Teaming in Engineering and Adapting to Overcome Challenges. Additionally, a niche concept of Identity Crafting was explored using the unique narratives of two participants. This study provides empirical evidence of military veterans experientially learning valuable assets in engineering from their military service. A better understanding of the veterans’ Funds of Knowledge presented in this study provides valuable opportunities for their utilization in engineering education and engineering industry.
ContributorsSheppard, Michael Scott (Author) / Kellam, Nadia N (Thesis advisor) / Bekki, Jennifer M (Committee member) / Brunhaver, Samantha R (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020