Roles of ICTs while Transitioning from Civil to Military Culture

My Role

Designed the study, engaged stakeholders, conducted interviews, transcribing and coding interview data, performed qualitative analysis, published full paper.
Year: 2017 | Collaborators: Prof. Apu Kapadia, Prof. Bryan Semaan, Bryan Dososno, Yasmeen Rashidi | Indiana University, Syracuse University.

Description

A critical element for a successful transition is the ability to disclose or make known, one’s struggles. The primary goal of this project is to explore the transition disclosure practices of Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) students who are transitioning from an individualistic culture to one that is highly collective. As ROTC students routinely evaluate their peers through a ranking system, the act of disclosure may impact a student's ability to secure limited opportunities within the military upon graduation. An interview was performed consisting of 14 ROTC students to study how they use information communication technologies (ICTs) to disclose their struggles in a hyper-competitive environment. We found that they engage in a process of highly selective disclosure, choosing different groups with which to disclose based on the types of issues they face. We share implications for designing ICTs that better facilitate how ROTC students cope with personal challenges during their formative transition into the military.

Research Method

User study: Interview

Participants

14 Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) students from Indiana University.

Qualitative Data Analysis Method

Inductive approach for coding
Axial coding

For more details, please download the paper at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3134676