week 6 lab

Melonie Bland

COLLAPSE

McGinnis Johnson, J., & Ng, E. S. (2017). Money talks or millennials walk: The effect of compensation on nonprofit millennial workers sector-switching intentions. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 36(3), 283–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X15587980

This article by McGinnis and Ng (2017), examines if pay and the perception of pay influences millennials’ decisions to continue working for non-profit organizations. Millennials are often drawn to non-profit organizations, but the pay and perception of their salary in relation to peers in public and private sectors may influence millennials to resign from non-profit organizations to work for public and private sectors. Pay is often linked to job satisfaction, and the authors hypothesized that millennials may not feel satisfied with working for non-profit organizations if they perceive that their value does not match the salary received. Results from the study concluded that millennials’ decision to work in non-profit organizations or move to public or private sectors is not motivated by salary, as increased pay does not influence millennials to stay at non-profit organizations. Instead, the study shows that millennials seek jobs with higher achievement standards based on their degrees and opportunities for promotion and advancement.

The result of this article is useful and provides some insights and challenges the perception that millennials are overly concerned with extrinsic benefits. However, the article utilized secondary data from the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Survey completed in 2011 which limited the questions asked in this study, and the data is now dated. The result from the study is helpful in developing questions to complete further research that directly asks millennials about components that influence their resignation from organizations.

Amanda Najar-Cabrera

Dodds, C. D., & Kiernan, M. D. (2019). Hidden veterans: A review of the literature on women veterans in contemporary society. Illness, Crisis, & Loss, 27(4), 293–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/1054137319834775

This literature review article explores peer-reviewed research pertaining to women veterans from 2008 to 2018. The authors argue that current literature is dominated by studies that focus on male veterans leaving women’s experiences from within this population largely unknown. Current research does not fully explore the complex nature of the difficulties that result from military service. The authors identified three broad themes within the current literature, including: (a) why women join the military, (b) what their experiences are in the military, and (c) what their experiences are after military service. The authors identify how future research is needed to understand the reasons why women join the military, why they remain in the service, why they leave the military, and what their experiences are beyond the military. Through understanding the needs of this population, they can be better served.

The authors state that current veteran-focused research is biased towards men and can reinforce the gender stereotypes. Dodds and Kiernan delve into the three themes they found in the literature. First, they identify how military service is a significant life event that influences how women experiences their lives, both inside and outside of the armed forces. They identify how research recognizes that women who join the military tend to be confident, self-motivated, strong, and courageous. Female military recruits may come from difficult backgrounds of adversity and resilience. Women may also find that abuse starts or continues during their time in service. Women in the military also face the challenge of being judged by their appearance as either too masculine or too feminine, both seen as improper, which can impact their military-related experiences and have lasting psychosocial consequences. Outsiders tend to think that females do not see combat and are less affected by their military experiences, but they endure the same things as men. Research shows that over 40% of women from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are leaving the service after enduring military sexual trauma (MST) with higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Women who leave the military are largely unprepared for the transition, yet their military experiences can have long-term effects on their lives, with few available resources to help them navigate the challenges that may result.

Scoping review methodology was used to search and sort through available articles, to cover a broad range of related topics, develop an argument based on the literature, and to develop the three broad themes. Early in the article, it is disclosed that the primary researcher is a woman veteran, giving the reader insight about how their personal experiences may influence the overall interpretation of the literature. This article’s strength is that it focuses on how current research is lacking regarding the experiences of women veterans, which can adversely impact this growing population. It also highlights both the benefits and drawbacks of being a woman in the military. The one negative critique I have for this article is that the authors refer to the women veteran population as a "ticking time bomb", without fully articulating why they assert this. Overall, this article supports the gap in literature I intend to address, which focuses on the lived experiences of women veterans with social identity after military service, and it will be a useful resource to support my efforts.