Student Veterans’ Strengths: Exploring Student Veterans’ Perceptions of Their Strengths and how to Harness Them in Higher Education

Student veterans’ perceptions of the strengths they bring to a university impacts their academic performance. Student veterans perceive that they have strengths in: communication, diversity management, leadership and drive. The authors will review the results of their mixed methods study with 115 student veterans who attended a large southwestern public university. These strengths positively affect self-efficacy and motivation in their academic performances. The presenters advocate for ways higher education institution and faculty can support student veterans’ strengths.

Presenters

Dr. Katie Sullivan, Associate Professor of Communication, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Dr. Kay Yoon, Associate Professor of Communication, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs