Challenges for veterans in the workforce

“I noticed after publishing a couple papers and a book chapter that no one has done a review in this area,” explained University of Cincinnati’s Daniel Peat, PhD, who specializes in military-affected individuals in business management. “That’s usually a sign that there’s a bit of an immaturity in the field itself.”

That’s why he and his team published a new research review, “Veterans and military-connected individuals in the civilian workforce: an integrative review and research agenda,” in the Organization Management Journal. 

Peat and his team created a synthesis of established research, finding key trends, themes and areas of focus in the workplace that need more study. By reading through the work of 189 authors spanning over 60 years of research, the team found that not only is empirical research lacking, but that there is not enough work focusing on the specific barriers that military-affiliated workers face.

In the review, Peat’s team says that employers frequently underutilize the skills and experiences of military-connected individuals due to poor translation from military to civilian life. Employee performance is likely to improve if organizations offer support tailored to this unique life circumstance. 

For example, newer studies suggest the idea that veterans can find success in entrepreneurship. But hard evidence to support this idea is lacking, according to the review. “Military veterans are 45% more likely to start their own business than a nonveteran, but there are only two or three studies on military entrepreneurs,” Peat said.

“Part of the issue is that a lot of times we have to justify why this is even a separate population,” Peat said. “Is there really anything unique about the military and veterans that you can’t find in other organizations?”

Peat’s review argues that the differences are large enough to frame military-connected people as a distinct class of workers shaped by the culture of the military. He suggested further study on areas such as organizational support and the tangible impacts of veterans in leadership positions. 

“We looked at the entire literature of not just veterans in the workforce, but military-connected individuals in the workforce,” Peat said. This broad category includes service members transitioning to civilian life, reservists and the family members of military members. 

“What we found is that a lot of these populations are understudied,” Peat said. “And those that are studied tend to be examined from very specific angles.”

Military spouses in particular tend to be overlooked as a population in scholarly research. “They tend to have higher unemployment rates than their comparable populations in the civilian environment,” Peat said.

Peat’s interest in this field of study came from his lived experience. He has served in a number of military and government roles, culminating as a division chief for the U.S. Department of Defense Technical Information Center. As an Army reservist of over 20 years, he is also an adjunct instructor for the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He also works with UC’s Office of Veterans Programs & Services. 

Co-author Stone also served in the military. Perrmann-Graham did not, but her father did. “I always like to have a nonveteran co-author with me because that helps keep us grounded,” Peat explained. “But once we got a good start going, I invited Stone to be on it, as well. Seeing this integrated review come out was a passion of his, too.”

Read the full review.

Featured image at top of a military-affiliated person receiving career advice. Photo/iStock