Resumen de Technically and tactically proficient: how military leadership training and experiences are enacted in engineering education
Joyce B. Main, Michelle Madsen Camacho, Catherine Mobley, Catherine E. Brawner, Susan M. Lord, Hilal Kesim
Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with student veterans in the United States pursuing Bachelor’s degrees inengineering across four institutions, we present findings relating military leadership and its application to engineeringeducation. Our findings address three themes: (1) how leadership skills are learned, (2) motivation to be a leader, and (3)translation into, and enactment of military leadership skills in, engineering education. The interviews show that leadershipskills and experiences acquired in the military play an important role in the academic experiences and success of studentveterans in engineering (SVEs). Findings can help inform strategies and programs to encourage more SVEs to translatetheir leadership skills to an academic setting in an asset-based framework. Providing leadership opportunities for SVEs inthe classroom has the potential to increase their engagement in engineering, strengthen their pathways to professionalengineering practice, and provide important role models of servant leadership for the other engineering undergraduateswho work with them.
