BACKGROUND - RESEARCH
Dr Kate Martin’s Doctoral Research
The information provided on this website is based on a nine-year doctoral study that investigated the extent to which an identity connection to former employment influences job satisfaction post-service for former members of the Australian police, military and emergency services. The military included members from the army, air force and navy, and emergency services included firefighters and paramedics. In-depth interviews of 32 former members of these service organisations were conducted and analysed using a thematic analysis within an interpretative paradigm. The results indicated that these former service individuals have strong identity connections to their former service organisations and define themselves based on their former service roles. In doing so, they experience isolation and disorientation when leaving the service organisation and require support to effectively guide them through the transition process. As a result, typical job satisfaction determinants are inadequate to measure their post-service employment satisfaction. This was informed by the timeline of the participant narrations and the influence of key points in time, being the service environment, the individual experiences, and the transition experience.
Collaboration with CLET Training
The collaboration with CLET Training (RTO #31254) was born from the capacity for CLET to support the recognition of current and former service members and provide nationally recognised qualifications. This supported re-employment into the civilian workforce.
But, with so much information to provide, it was decided that a dedicated site was needed to showcase all the content of the research and the experiences of Kate and her team at CLET. This allows individuals to take their time navigating content to take from it what they will.
Doctoral supervisors:
Post-service identity theory
Arising out of the analysis is a theory that helps categorise the complex dynamics that environmentally shape the individual experience of service personnel and how that impacts their transition. Introducing post-service identity theory, this newly developed theory explains how service organisations create ‘soldiers’ through training regimes in a hegemonic masculine environment that socially isolate the individuals and create an ‘us and them’ mentality with the non-service world. The exploration reveals that there is no process to un-create the soldiers, leaving them disoriented in the post-service environment.
“A study of job satisfaction amongst former employees of these service organisations contributes to an understanding of transition issues for this group and paves the way for new approaches to the management of post-service practices for each former employee.”
These practices include the following four steps:
Professor John Hicks (Charles Sturt University) - Associate Professor Larissa Bamberry (Charles Sturt University) - Associate Professor Michelle Evans (Melbourne University)