Kristen Saboe, Division 19 (Society for Military Psychology), answers questions about “Creation of Infographics and White Papers to Reduce Military Veteran and Military Spouse Under-Employment,” which received a grant of $8,000.
Division leaders are encouraged to submit an Interdivisional Grant Program proposal by the September 1 deadline.
Tell us about your project.
While many organizations, nonprofits, and public sector efforts focus on military, veteran, and military family topics, few efforts are founded in empirical evidence or research best practices. This project, co-led by Divisions 14 and 19, brought together experts from across Divisions 14 (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology), Division 19 (Society for Military Psychology), Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology), 18 (Psychologists in Public Service), and 44 (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity) to create brief best practice white papers for ten critical topic areas, to include white papers on hiring veterans, employing veterans with disabilities, and retaining military spouses and family members.
How did you come up with the idea and get divisions together to work on it?
I and the co-leads on this project have led Military and Veterans focus areas for Division 14 and 19 for over a decade. I continue to leave Div 14's Government Relations and Advocacy which gives me a view into what types of quick reference guides are most helpful for non-psychologist audiences. All of the co-leads for this project have worked closely on projects with colleagues across many APA divisions due to the need for interdisciplinary and cross-specialty expertise. We have long wanted to create a larger footprint for this work across APA. This grant allowed us the opportunity to weave together the expertise of different divisions while also serving a public need for a richer research-driven understanding of veterans and military families in civilian work and education settings.
What was the process of preparing and submitting your proposal like?
The process to prepare and submit the proposal was very straightforward. We already had working relationships across the five divisions that collaborated in this project. I and the co-leads are members in multiple divisions allowing for easier and more straightforward collaboration. Coordination, project management, and networking were critical for including the right experts. The proposal submission was appropriately rigorous and felt much like submitting a highly collaborative proposal for the annual APA conference.
The purpose of the program is to support joint activities that enhance the work, interests, or goals of two or more divisions. What was it like to work with other divisions on this goal?
Working between and across divisions is a norm for me and the other co-leads on this project. The most exciting part of this project was the opportunity to acknowledge the work across multiple divisions and their overlaps. So often we know the work overlaps functionally but we are unable to maximize the overlap between divisions for grant funded projects. This presented a unique opportunity to reward cross-division collaborations and interplay making the final products more robust, thoughtful, and relevant.
Since you completed your project and submitted your final report, how does it feel now that it’s done?
Well, the work is never really done. But it does feel great to have the bulk of the work done. We created white papers in the interest of wider dissemination to non-psychologist audiences. This means that we will continue to network and find ways to share them when opportunity allows. It also means that as research advances, we will need to update the information in the white papers to ensure their rigor and relevance remain.
What did you learn from working on this?
It was validating to receive grant funding for this project for two reasons, in particular: (1) The focus on veterans employment continues to garner more and more attention but deep research is needed. This project provided us a platform to continue to highlight the need and provide a foundation from which future work can flourish. (2) Diversity of expertise and thought trumps a narrow perspective. The white papers were enhanced because we could include a diverse set of views and expertise.
What’s your best tip for another group about to submit a proposal?
Dive in and maximize the opportunity to collaborate with other divisions. This builds a tighter network of psychologists working on important and impactful topics. When thinking about your proposal, also consider how you may make it a seed project or a foundational product that creates a sustainable piece of information that fosters future academic and applied psychology initiatives.
