Women's Life after the Military: Women Veterans' Transition from Military to Civilian life and Implications for Gender Identity Proposed Supervisor

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My main research objective is to explore the transition of women veterans to civilian life after their military careers. My hypothesis is that there are important gendered aspects to this crucial process. I intend to combine qualitative field research with veterans (via established charities and veteran associations) with theoretical analysis drawn from critical military studies and gender theory more broadly.I intend to conduct a double faceted project. I will conduct interviews with women veterans and discuss their experiences in the military, focusing on how they felt it changed and shaped them and their gender identities. Further, I wish to discover the difficulties they faced during the transition from the military to full time civilian life. What sort of support did they receive, if any?In collaboration with veteran charities, I intend for my project findings to have a constructive impact for better defining the support needed by this community, whilst also providing primary source material on the lived experiences of women veterans in the UK. Whilst centring women's experiences through qualitative research, I plan to analyse this source material through the lense of the current discussion and theory surrounding masculine militarisation and gender theory to see how these lived experiences compare to the theoretical discussion. This presents a dual contribution to the field of Critical Military Studies and gender theory.The research would be conducted over a three-year period. Initially I will conduct a thorough literature review of the current discussion, build relationships with the aforementioned charities and source interviewees. Once the data is gathered, I will begin analysis through the framework of gender theory I will have established and create a project which will benefit the charities in terms of strategizing, funding applications, and possibly setting up new projects. I will write up throughout the project, and in my final year refer back to my interviewees to identify if they have witnessed any positive change since our discussions.