D.B.A.  Baker College (Michigan), 2021.
Specialization:  Business administration

Why do military officers leave their civilian jobs?
143 pages. UMI #: 28863977
Citation, Abstract & Full text in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Database

Each year, over 200,000 U.S. service members leave active duty and transition from a regimented military lifestyle to a more relaxed, and less defined civilian world. Civilian businesses spend a significant amount of money and resources to recruit this skilled group of potential employees, only to have almost 65% of them leave during the first 24 months of employment. That number is striking compared to annual civilian turnover rates of only 19%. To address this military to civilian transition problem, the federal government and other nonprofit organizations have conducted or commissioned several recent studies to learn why veterans as a collective group leave their civilian jobs. Those studies did not differentiate between highly educated officers who comprise 20% of the active-duty force and enlisted personnel who are the technical experts that make up the remaining 80% of active-duty personnel. There is a gap in the research concerning why military officers leave with such frequency. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to answer two research questions: to identify what measures organizations take to address recruiting and retention of veterans and military officers, and to learn what civilian businesses can do to increase their ability to recruit and retain veterans and military officers. The research methodology was guided by Bourdieu’s culture competency theory, which uses the concepts of field, habitus, and capital to inform how military officers integrate into civilian employment. In this study, 6 human resource managers in civilian businesses and 6 military officers in the Michigan and northern Ohio region were interviewed.

• Don McLellan, Ph.D., Chair
• John Vinton, Ph.D.
• Peggy Houghton, Ph.D.