Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Educational Leadership / Sarah Jane Fishback / This study describes how combat experiences affected female Army officers who attended the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The female Army officers’ combat experiences were found to affect their academic learning, classroom experience, and coping mechanisms in a graduate-level professional military education. The themes identified included combat-related gender specific experiences and additional gender themes related to learning in a male-dominated military education environment. Nine female active duty Army officers who were attending CGSC participated in this research with each having a minimum of two combat tours. In addition, two active duty Army CGSC military instructors with multiple combat tours and two behavioral counselors specializing in military patients were also interviewed. The findings of this case study indicated that combat experiences affect t a degree the female students who served in the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. The level of perceived academic stress was contingent upon the impact of the CGSC classroom environment, personal combat experiences, prior education, gender related combat stress, and other factors. Also, the learning experience of female students at CGSC was influenced due to marginalization in the classroom, instructor biases, and two-female limitations. This study contributes the continued research on effects of combat on adult learning, specifically adding to the limited works on being a female serving in the Army.

The Swedish Armed Forces (SwAF) have been making internal efforts to enrol more women through changes in legislation and mandatory conscription, since the adoption of Resolution 1325 in the Swedish Parliament at the turn of the century. Since the alterations, an upward trend of female recruits as well as women making careers and reaching high ranking positions, has been identified. Consequently, raising other issues about how SwAF is making efforts to adapt their prevailing male dominated organization towards their now increasing female personnel.  To achieve the objective of understanding how male normativity is experienced in the Armed Forces, the study derives from explorative semi- structured interviews with female recruits, as well as previous studies conducted in the area, departing from a constructivist and feminist theoretical approach. The result supports, that women are nevertheless experiencing obstacles and are expected to repetitively prove their positions as soldiers, in terms of bodily differences, materiality, language, comradery, and community. It also speaks for continued efforts to broaden the Armed Forces' inclusivity, challenge gender norms and customs, and improve accessibility for female recruits, and female military personnel.

The purpose of this research study was to explore female service members, reservists, and veterans feelings regarding service related trauma and what they want clinicians to know regarding treatment. This was a qualitative study that used a snowball sample to interview seven women; data collected was transcribed from recordings, analyzed, and categorized into themes. Qualitative themes included vulnerability, connection to clinician, and mental health stigma. Potential changes endorsed included understanding gender roles, clinician’s ability to build better therapeutic relationships, and decreasing mental health stigma. Limitations included not being able to generalize the study as service members, reservists, and veterans were not looked at independently from one another. Recommendations for the social work profession include upholding the dignity and worth of each client, understanding client’s perceptions, and advocating for policy changes. Future research will be fundamental in understanding how to provide better mental health treatment to females in combat military roles.