Training investment and the transition to civilian work
My MBA dissertation examined how military training relates to veterans’ career trajectories and social mobility. It asked how service-acquired skills translate into civilian opportunities, and how that translation differs across people and places.
The question connects public investment in skills with the labour-market conditions needed to recognise and use them.
The analytical approach
The dissertation reports analysis of secondary datasets from the ONS Labour Force Survey, Veterans’ Survey and Forces in Mind Trust, using regression and social return on investment calculations. Human capital, social mobility and career construction theory provide the conceptual basis.
It examines associations involving service characteristics, demographics, regional labour markets and transition support. The SROI calculation places monetary proxies on selected financial and non-financial outcomes.
What the dissertation argues
The work argues that the value of military training is unevenly realised after service. Recognition of skills, access to transition support and regional employment opportunities are considered alongside individual service histories.
For employers and policymakers, the practical question is how to improve the conditions under which veterans’ skills become recognised qualifications, employment and progression.
How far the findings can be taken
The cross-sectional design identifies associations, not proof that service or transition support caused an outcome. Social-return estimates depend on valuation proxies, attribution and other modelling assumptions.
This brief does not reproduce a headline return ratio as an independently validated impact claim. The underlying analysis and assumptions would need scrutiny before using its estimates for investment or policy decisions.
Questions for further work
- Which military skills are recognised by civilian employers, and which are missed?
- How do regional labour markets affect the value of those skills?
- What evidence would separate the effect of transition support from differences between those who use it and those who do not?
Based on Phil Pegram’s MBA dissertation, submitted May 2025. This is academic work, not a peer-reviewed journal article. Contact me to discuss the methodology or underlying paper.