Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

First Advisor

Dr. Joseph R. Huscroft, Jr.

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore the leadership experiences of male military spouses who serve as primary caregivers in the home. The primary objective of this research was to illuminate the voices of male military spouses from the various branches of military service to share their lived experiences and with specific regard to their leadership qualities. The goal of this research is to allow male military spouses to use their own words to describe their leadership experiences and to understand the context of that leadership inside the military culture. Pleck’s Gender Role Strain was used as the framework to guide this study, four major themes emerged from the data, to include Leadership Competencies, Military Lifestyle, Marriage and Family Support, and Gender Issues. Male military spouses demonstrated that their leadership experiences parallel those of female caregivers. The differences, however, manifest in the historical, social, and cultural differences of 1) how they see themselves as leaders and 2) how they perceive themselves as being seen within the military framework. While the military has made strides in recognizing the changing demographics of its active duty families, it still has work to do in its outreach and inclusion of male military spouses in its family readiness programs. Recommendations for military leadership include highlighting both the presence and the importance of male military spouses as primary caregivers. Also recommended is working with unofficial spouse clubs to be more inclusive of and perform better outreach toward male military spouses. Recommendations for future research include interviewing male military spouses raising daughters, as studies where men are navigating the waters of raising young girls/women could hold importance not only in the realm of military families, but in the realm of families and relationships altogether, as more men begin to take on the roles of primary caregiver in the home to children of all genders.

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