Women Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces: A Qualitative Needs Assessment Conducted By the Service Women's Action Network

Background and Purpose: Military women comprise approximately 15% of the U.S. armed services and represent the fastest-growing segment of the veteran population. Unfortunately, significant gaps in services to reach this priority population in both institutional and civic settings exist.

Methods: Data collection occurred during focus groups conducted during the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN) 2017 Summit Meeting. The focus group discussions were led according to a semi-structured focus group interview guide. Focus groups were recorded and transcribed by a transcriptionist with field notes taken by facilitators during the interviews. The study team then de-identified transcripts for analyses. Content analysis of the qualitative data were performed according to the principles of descriptive qualitative methods, whereby items are categorized according to similarities and themes are generated.

Results: Content analyses of focus groups segmented by service era indicated key differences in service experiences between women veterans serving between 2-6 years and those who retired after lengthy careers.

Conclusions and Implications: Primary findings from this study suggest that severe mental health burdens are created by marginalization and Military Sexual Trauma experiences during service, which in turn impacts recruiting and retention for the military. Harassment and assault create a tremendous talent loss for all branches of the U.S. military and were linked in the present qualitative study to departure from the service. Recommendations include targeted programming for service women, women veterans, and policy change to improve service conditions for women.