Focus Forward Fellowship: Evaluation of a program for women student service members and veterans.

ABSTRACT

The Focus Forward Fellowship was designed to support women student service members and veterans (SSM/Vs) in developing skills and resources to promote persistence to graduation and career attainment. Despite their accomplishments and strengths, women SSM/Vs can be challenged by their military and gender identities in a university environment surrounded by peers who differ in age and life experience (Iverson et al., 2016). Guided by King's (2004) meaning of life meta-model, the Fellowship was designed to increase sense of belonging, understanding of self, and engagement in behaviors tied to academic and career success. We gathered longitudinal evaluation data from two early program cohorts comprising 19 women. Analyses indicated that women reported significant gains in knowledge and use of personal strengths, identity integration, resume preparation, and networking skills, with baseline assessments controlled. No gains were found for sense of belonging or engagement in networking with career professionals or military peers. Based on existing literature, improvement in identity integration is a particularly positive contribution to women students' academic and career success. Program refinements will aim to strengthen contributions to the "belonging" domainof the program.