Women Veterans after Transition to Civilian Life: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Women are important contributors in the United States military yet historically struggle for equality and equity. As women’s military service increases, literature has failed to keep up with the changes which affect women service members and veterans, especially civilian life transitions. Through a feminist framework, the current study explored the experiences of four women veterans who transitioned to civilian life utilizing interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyze semi-structured interviews. Connected by gender, seven superordinate themes emerged: family support, mandatory conformity, identity, service, gender inequality, symptoms, and opportunities. The findings indicated that military life and transition negatively impacted these women veterans’ mental, physical, and social well-being. In contribution to the gap in current literature, the authors discuss implications for research, clinicians, society, and the military.