PUBLICATIONS
AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES AND EDUCATIONAL EQUITY FOR STUDENT VETERANS
Wadham, B., Takarangi, M., Harvey, A., Andrewartha, L., West, B., Wyatt-Smith, M., & Davis, J. (2021).
This report draws upon a small but growing scholarship on student veterans in Australia. Two recent projects and studies led by La Trobe University in conjunction with the Australian Student Veterans Association (ASVA) (Harvey, Andrewartha, Smith, & Wyatt-Smith, 2018) and the Australian Catholic University (ACU), Charles Darwin University (CDU), and Western Sydney University (WSU) (Harvey, Andrewartha, et al 2020) have established a platform for ongoing research and reform in the area of military/civil transition and student veterans. From that work, we know that transition from the military is often a challenging time for veterans. Challenges may include the loss of community and friendships, previous roles or status, dealing with the impacts of service on psychological and physical health, and the radical change from being an integral part of a cohesive, constraining environment to an individual in a civilian society.
THE CASE FOR VETERANFRIENDLY HIGHER EDUCATION IN CANADA AND THE UNITED KINGDOM
Cable, G., Cathcart, D., & Almond, M. (2021).
This paper presents the case for greater effort to encourage former armed forces members, otherwise known as veterans, to access and thrive in higher education institutions in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK). By looking at existing research, almost exclusively conducted in the United States (US) and Australia, it proposes that similar efforts should be applied in Canadian and UK contexts. Whereas the US has developed educational opportunities and policies for this community since the inception of the 1944 GI Bill, Australia and Canada seem only now to be increasing attention in this area, while the UK appears not to be doing so at all. Building on this lengthy, primarily US research base and attention, along with nascent investigation and recommendations in Australia, the authors consider how both Canada and the UK might develop similar initiatives. These include targeted marketing and financial packages aimed at veterans, improved monitoring and support for them, and the creation of student veteran and staff associations and other peer support mechanisms. It is argued that this will not just benefit the student veterans concerned, but also the institutions they choose to study with, and the wider Canadian and UK societies they inhabit.
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