Purpose This paper aims to explore the interactions of social learning and career navigation and their associated implications for women in military service. Design/methodology/approach Social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) exposes and aids in understanding the ability of an organization’s members to reconcile their personal experiences, socialization and observations. Drawn from a larger qualitative study of gender in the US military, this study highlights the US military’s rigorous socialization practices and the reliance on communal memory and social learning including matters pertaining to gender including career navigation. Findings Military servicewomen use these processes to learn military culture, acceptable behaviors, institutional norms and organizational realities for career navigation reflective of gender. Originality/value This article presents a novel exploration of gender in the military as it pertains to social learning and career progression.

Distinguishing between the us and them of the military and civilian is a clearly delineated binary. Yet, if the line demarking military from civilian is obvious, it is far from finite. Within this demarcation or border lies the veteran. One who has traversed both sides of the line and yet no longer belongs to either side. Veterans belongs to both and yet neither caught in the haze gray but never again underway. Anzaldúa's (2012) borderlands method is extended to explore the veteran identity as a nebulous borderland between military and civilian cultures. Border crossings, identity development, intersectionality, deficit discourse, and microaggressions are explored through qualitative analysis including stylistic narrative and anecdotal writing.

This article reviews the interwoven history surrounding mental health diagnoses and military veteran depictions of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Including a detailed historical review focusing on three major time periods: WWI-Korean War (1915-1950s); Vietnam War (1960s-1980s); and the Gulf/Middle East conflicts (1981-Present). By noting prevailing connections throughout these time periods, including the continuity of stigma and the depictions of veterans as well as the evolution of changing interpretations in what images and depictions of veterans mean including their associated social and political usages. Finally, a number of implications, both positive and negative surrounding the interconnected nature of veterans and mental health (namely PTSD), are offered, with recommendations for future inquiry and policy.

Purpose The representation of women throughout all levels of military service and the experiences of women in military service remains a challenge for the U.S. military. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the gendered experiences of active-duty senior enlisted women in the U.S. military. In particular, this paper addresses gendered misconduct and its implications for training and human resource development. Design/methodology/approach Informed by gendered organizations theory, feminist institutional theory and social learning theory, this interpretive qualitative study used document reviews and in-depth interviews with 12 active-duty senior enlisted women representing various occupational specialties within the four branches of the Department of Defense. Findings Findings included compelling stories of the gendered experiences of the participants’ related to organizational structures, institutional culture, gendered misconduct and learning to navigate as a woman. Gendered misconduct, to include sexual assault, sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination, particularly reflected the simultaneous visibility and invisibility of women in military service. Originality/value The findings of this study are consistent with extant literature and may be used to inform policy and regulatory efforts regarding gendered misconduct in the military. Otherwise, women in the military will remain invisible and yet hypervisible.