Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Meeting & Convention Tourism In Montana, Glenna Hartman, Elena Bigart, Melissa Weddell

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

As meeting and convention travel continues its post-pandemic rebound, Montana still lacks a comprehensive picture of this growing sector's reach and impact. This report offers the state's first statewide analysis of meetings and conventions — examining their economic contribution to local communities, the factors that make Montana an attractive destination, the scale and geographic spread of events across the state, and how Montana compares to national industry benchmarks.

The findings paint a promising picture: 75% of meeting planners say they'd recommend Montana, and over half plan to bring events to the state in the next one to three years. Montana's …

Economic Contribution Of 2024/2025 Averaged Nonresident Travel Spending In Montana Travel Regions And Counties, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

Money spent by travelers in Montana has a direct effect on businesses where it is spent, and it ripples throughout the state’s economy from there. Statewide, spending by nonresident visitors (averaged over two years - 2024 and 2025) totaled $5.36 billion. This report details the methods and results of the economic impact analyses for each of Montana’s six travel regions, as well as analyses for counties in which nonresident travelers spent approximately $50 million or more.

Pengaruh Penggunaan Internet Terhadap Pendapatan Wirausaha Pemuda Di Indonesia, Nabella Primasetya, Putu Geniki Lavinia Natih

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

An important element in entrepreneurship is being alert to unexploited opportunities. In the context of entrepreneurial development, internet users in Indonesia continue to increase but the percentage of young people using the internet for business remains low. This study analyzes the effect of internet usage on the income of young entrepreneurs in Indonesia using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method and Propensity Score Matching (PSM). The results show that internet usage significantly increases the income of youth entrepreneurs. Internet usage for communication contributes positively to their income but usage for promotion, social media and marketplaces does not affect their income.

Understanding The Experiences Of Faculty Members Who Teach Case Conceptualization, Asianna Harris

Dissertations (1934 -)

Competence in case conceptualization (CC) is a core skill in clinical training. However, many graduate programs lack a structured process for teaching this complex and dynamic clinical skill. While most research focuses on students’ perspectives on learning CC, there is a distinct gap in research on faculty experiences, successful teaching methods, and the assessment of teaching practices. Therefore, this study addressed the gap in extant literature by exploring how doctoral programs’ faculty taught transtheoretical CC and how they evaluated the effectiveness of their instruction. A Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) design was employed to deeply examine the experiences of 13 faculty …

How Wounded Healer Trainees Develop Self-Awareness Of Their Wounds And Use This Self-Awareness In Clinical Work, Nishi Ravi

Dissertations (1934 -)

The wounded healer, a concept originally introduced by Carl Jung (1951), characterizes individuals who, having undergone personal struggles or ‘wounding,’ feel inclined to alleviate the suffering of others. Extant literature attests to the prevalence of woundedness among counseling professionals and to the potential benefits and risks their wounds pose in clinical practice. Despite its widespread use across the literature, the wounded healer concept has yet to be formally and empirically operationalized, and this study addresses that gap by offering a concrete, empirically grounded definition of the construct. Yet, while wounded healers are increasingly recognized across counseling training contexts, little research …

Coping With Uncertainty In Everyday Situations (Cues©): The U.S. Pilot Study, Sarah Lehman

Dissertations (1934 -)

Autistic youth experience anxiety at an increased rate compared to their neurotypical counterparts. The presence of anxiety often amplifies the social and functional difficulties faced by autistic youth, which can exacerbate poor outcomes. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), defined as negative beliefs and reactions to unpredictable or ambiguous situations, has been identified as a key factor to the manifestation of anxiety in autistic populations. The current study aimed to replicate the protocol and results from Rodgers et al. (2023) by conducting the first U.S. pilot study examining the feasibility and efficacy of Coping with Uncertainty in Everyday Situations (CUES©); an 8-week …

Childhood Maltreatment Profiles And Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (Pmdd) Among Female Adolescents In Nigeria: A Latent Class Analysis, Wasiu Olorunlambe, Sherifat Adeniyi, Maricela Galdamez, Ruby Charak, Julian D. Ford

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Background

Objectives

Participants and Settings

Methods

Pinochet’S Upswing: The Demise Of A Democratic Society In Chile, Jacob Behnk

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In the United States, we tend to view democracy as an inviolable tenet of political life. Our nation’s founding is even romanticized as a heroic fight for liberty against the wicked tyranny of the British monarchy. It is unthinkable that democracy could ever be destroyed, let alone have the citizens cheer on those who engineer its destruction—yet this is the very situation that Chile found itself regarding Augusto Pinochet, a brutal dictator who ruled the country with an iron fist from 1973 to 1990. Pinochet would be voted out of power in a 1988 plebiscite, but still managed to win …

Nh Ece Research Consortium Community Stakeholder Map, Jess Carson, Evan England, Rachel Filippone, Elizabeth Belsito

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

New Hampshire's early care and education (ECE) ecosystem is complex and includes a broad, dynamic community of people and organizations who contribute to and rely upon ECE research. This visual stakeholder "map" documents the community-based organizations that support NH ECE. These maps rely on contributions, updates, and refinements from the field and are meant to be a shared resource reflecting the complexity of partnerships in NH's ECE ecosystem.

Addressing Bias Against Sopo Vee Opp Polyamory, Nafees Alam

Social Work Faculty Publications

Polyamory is a consensual relationship style involving multiple romantic and/or sexual partners, with SOPO (solo polyamory), VEE, and OPP (one penis policy) being specific polyamorous dynamics that often face heightened bias. The reality show "Sister Wives" offers a compelling case study of both stigmatization and potential normalization of non-monogamous relationships in mainstream media. This manuscript examines how "Sister Wives" both reinforces and challenges stereotypes about polyamory, its impact on public perception, and how the experiences of the Brown family parallel those of SOPO VEE OPP practitioners. By analyzing media representation alongside lived experiences, we can better understand how to promote …

Animal Assisted Interventions For Older Adults Experiencing Cognitive Impairment, Preeti Bachu

Psychology

As individuals age, they often experience gradual declines in cognitive abilities that ultimately affect their quality of life and independence. Severe cognitive decline is not necessarily a natural or universal part of the aging process and tends to be exacerbated by various neurodegenerative diseases, most notably Alzheimer's disease (Colita et al., 2024). There have been promising outcomes of animal assisted interventions in improving the conditions of several populations and spaces, including educational, rehabilitative, and therapeutic settings. Animal assisted therapy specifically is delivered by a qualified or licensed health professional. Previous research has shown a large benefit in long-term memory, verbal …

Examining The Effectiveness Of Nature Metaphor Patterns For Cultivating Intimacy, Acceptance, Relationship Satisfaction, Self-Compassion, And Positive Communication In Couples, Jenna Rice, Sarah Fraher, Elizabeth Engelkamp, Melissa Mcternan, Hannah Grigorian, James Cordova

Psychology

Effective couple interventions, such as Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy and the Relationship Checkup, include the labeling of common relationship patterns. This study hypothesized that a micro-intervention using nature metaphors, such as “Porcupine–Turtle,” would produce greater improvements in relationship health relative to descriptive labels such as “Approach–Withdraw.” Twenty-five couples were presented with nature metaphor patterns, while 24 couples were presented with descriptive patterns. Several measures of relationship health showed significant improvements across both groups, while other measures showed significant improvements for descriptive patterns only. Generally, nature metaphor patterns were initially rated as more novel and more resonant. Broadly, these results add …

Improving Urban Search And Rescue Team Coordination Through Adaptive Context Awareness, Daniel Reyes Duran

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Modern multi-agent Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations heavily rely on mobile geospatial Common Operating Pictures (COPs) to maintain team coordination and Situational Awareness (SA). However, the proliferation of high-frequency sensor telemetry at the tactical edge has introduced a data saturation paradox challenge: while information theoretically drives informed decision-making, unmanaged data surges induce increased operator cognitive overload and alert fatigue on mobile End-User Devices (EUDs), while downstream data-broadcasting models inherently strain edge processing and viewport environments.

To resolve these constraints, this dissertation presents a context-aware Value of Information (VoI) data-management framework integrated directly with a custom, event-driven Android Team Awareness …

Polarized Truth Decay & The Role Of Education In A Democracy, Sonja Varbelow, William Yaworsky

Anthropology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to delineate the causes and dangers of truth decay for a democracy, the role education has played in the process, and how education can present a resistance to this dangerous trend. Truth decay has been characterized as an increase in quantity of opinion over fact, divergent views on what constitutes a fact, and decreased confidence of traditional sources of information. We agree that truth decay is a serious problem but would characterize it somewhat differently. Opinions, divergent views, and decreased confidence in traditional sources of information are not detrimental by themselves. Instead, we see …

Patent Regime Shift And Firm Innovation Strategy: Evidence From The Second Amendment To China's Patent Law, Tony W. Tong, Wenlong He, Liang Chen, Zi-Lin He, Jiangyong Lu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Research Summary: While changes in intellectual property rights (IPR) protection significantly shape firm innovation, the mechanisms driving firms' responses remain poorly understood. Leveraging the Second Amendment to China's Patent Law, which strengthens appropriability particularly for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), as a natural experiment, we show that stronger IPR has mixed effects on SOEs' innovation. While SOEs increase the rate of innovation subsequent to the Amendment, they shift the direction of innovation toward more familiar areas in which they face a lesser need to adjust existing routines. This directional change suggests a quality decline in SOEs' innovation that may be attributed to …

Through The Lens Of Clarity: Perceived Organizational Tightness Boosts Creativity For Men, But Not For Women, Grace J. H. Lim, Roy Y. J. Chua

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A commonly held perspective in the cultural tightness literature is that cultural tightness tends to negatively impact creativity. Yet some findings indicate that this relationship is not strictly negative and that a more nuanced perspective should be considered. Drawing on social information processing (SIP) theory and social role theory, we build theory on how the perception of organizational cultural tightness can increase creativity for some employees, but not for others. Specifically, we propose that perceived organizational tightness—the extent to which one perceives that an organization is characterized by strong norms and sanctions for deviation—increases clarity on creativity evaluation standards and …

Fraud And Focus: Examining Self-Control Strategies In Students Experiencing Impostor Phenomenon, Francesca Angela Catalano

Theses and Dissertations

Impostor phenomenon (IP) is a common experience among individuals in achievement contexts characterized largely by feelings of self-doubt, attributions of success that focus on external factors, and beliefs that one is “fooling” others about their competence. Current research suggests the effects of IP are complex (e.g., IP is associated with higher grade point average and productivity but also self-handicapping, psychological distress, and difficulties adjusting to college). To better understand these complex effects, this study proposes a self-control perspective for IP, where this phenomenon is seen as involving additional self-control burdens. Specifically, the study examines whether IP is associated with grade …

Environmental And Socioeconomic Effects Of Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil Certification: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Kibrom T. Sibhatu, Matin Qaim

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Palm oil is the most widely produced and consumed vegetable oil worldwide, but its production is associated with deforestation and other environmental and social problems. Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is the only internationally-recognized voluntary certification standard aimed at mitigating such problems. Many studies examine RSPO’s effects on particular outcomes in specific contexts, but a consolidated global assessment is lacking. Here, we systematically review the literature and identify 53 original studies covering RSPO effects in various countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Where data availability permits, we also conduct meta-analysis. Results reveal that RSPO can lead to environmental …

Smart-Twin: Systematic Modeling And Real-Time Transportation With Digital Twins, Hovannes Kulhandjian

Mineta Transportation Institute

Urban transportation networks are increasingly affected by everyday congestion, non-recurring disruptions, and limited real-time visibility into what is happening on the road. Transportation agencies require advanced tools that support faster, proactive management and data-driven infrastructure decisions rather than passive monitoring. This report presents SMART-TWIN, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)–driven Digital Twin framework designed for real-time traffic operations, disruption detection, and performance-based decision-making support. The SMART-TWIN architecture integrates microscopic traffic simulation (detailed traffic modeling), long-horizon synthetic demand generation simulating real travel patterns, supervised machine learning, and performance analysis within a unified and reproducible workflow. A corridor-scale Digital Twin was developed for the …

Preparing Today’S Workforce For Tomorrow’S Autonomous Transportation: Bridging Electrical And Civil Engineering Disciplines, Masoud Ghodrat Abadi, Rohollah Moghadam

Mineta Transportation Institute

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are expected to transform transportation systems and reshape workforce needs across engineering and related fields. Although existing AV workforce development efforts often emphasize electrical engineering, computer science, and mechanical engineering, transportation engineering remains underrepresented despite its importance to infrastructure, traffic operations, safety, and mobility integration. This study addresses that gap through the development, implementation, and evaluation of an interdisciplinary certificate program, Workforce for Autonomous Vehicle Engineering (WAVE), at California State University, Sacramento. The program was designed to bridge transportation engineering and electrical engineering through a two-step curriculum model consisting of theoretical educational modules and hands-on laboratory activities. …

Mitigating Negative Consequences Of New Urban Growth In Disadvantaged Communities, Shishir Mathur, Christopher E. Ferrell, Cindy Adrian

Mineta Transportation Institute

New housing and development in California are often planned in communities that already face economic hardship, environmental burdens, and limited access to reliable transportation. Recent research finds specifically that in the San Francisco (S.F.) Bay Area and Southern California (SoCal) metropolitan regions, there is a high propensity to plan new urban development in socially, economically, and environmentally disadvantaged communities (DACs) with poor transit accessibility and limited personal mobility. This project first reviews the literature to identify potential unintended negative impacts of high concentrations of new urban growth in DACs across social, economic, educational, environmental, and transportation dimensions. It then identifies …

Late-Night And Early-Morning Train Scheduling With Non-Traffic Hour Maintenance Window In Urban Rail Transit Systems, Yaochen Ma, Hai Yang, Hai Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Regular maintenance during non-traffic hours (NTH) is vital for the resilience of urban rail transit (URT) systems, yet an insufficient NTH maintenance window poses a challenge for URT systems in various cities. For instance, the Hong Kong MTR Corporation has noted that the required NTH maintenance time often exceeds the available window, prompting service adjustments such as earlier late-night closures and/or later early-morning starts. To address this challenge, this study develops an optimal scheduling framework that links late-night and early-morning URT services through the NTH maintenance window requirement to maximize public welfare. A Decoupled Optimization Model (DOM) first derives closed-form …

Benzene Toluene And Xylene In Gasoline Automobile Emissions, Teerawet Titseesang, Noppaporn Panich, Thitima Rungratanaubon

Applied Environmental Research

The exhaust emissions of the air toxic benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) from gasoline automobiles with and without catalytic converter have been measured in the idle mode condition. The exhaust gas samples from tailpipe were collected by tedlar bag in the vacuum box. The automobile samples were classified into four different groups as follows : (1) the new automobile (less than 5 years old) with catalytic converter, (2) moderate-age automobile (5-10 years old) with catalytic converter, (3) the moderateage automobile (5-10 years old) without catalytic converter and (4) the old automobile (more than 10 years old) without catalytic converter. The …

การดูดซับตะกั่วจากน้ำเสียสังเคราะห์โดยใช้ซิลิกาเจลเคลือบด้วยโพลีเอทธิลีนไอมีน, จุรีรัตน์ ทองทาย, เขมรัฐ โอสถาพันธุ์, สุธา ขาวเชียร

Applied Environmental Research

การวิจัยครั้งนี้ศึกษาความสามารถในการดูดซับตะกั่วในน้ำเสียสังเคราะห์ของ ซิลิกาเจลที่เคลือบด้วยโพลีเอทธิลีนไอมีน (Polyethyleneimine หรือ PEI) ซึ่งทำการศึกษาที่ความเข้มข้นต่ำ โดยได้ทดลองเตรียมซิลิกาเจลเคลือบด้วยโพลีเอทธิลีนไอมีน (Sil/PEI) และหาอัตราส่วนในการเคลือบที่เหมาะสม แล้วนำมาทดลองกำจัดน้ำเสียสังเคราะห์ตะกั่วโดยการทดลองแบบแบตซ์ ที่พีเอชช่วง 4-7 และศึกษาผลของความแรงไอออน (Ionic strength) ต่อความสามารถในการดูดซับ แล้วเลือกพีเอช ที่เหมาะสมเพื่อนำไปศึกษาความสามารถในการดูดซับโดยใช้การทดลองแบบคอลัมน์
จากการทดลองเตรียมซิลิกาเจลเคลือบด้วยโพลีเอทธิลีนไอมีนพบว่าการเตรียมด้วยวิธี ชิมแพรกเนชั่นแบบแห้ง (Dry Impregnation) ในอัตราส่วนการเคลือบร้อยละ 5 โดยน้ำหนักต่อปริมาตรของสารละลายโพสีเอทธิสีนไอมีนในเมทานอล เป็นวิธีที่เหมาะสมที่สุด และผลการทดลองความสามารถในการดูดซับตะกั่วโดยการทดลองแบบแบตซ์ พบว่าที่พีเอช 4 และ 5 ไม่สามารถกำจัดตะกั่วได้ และความสามารถในการดูดซับตะกั่วจะมีประสิทธิภาพเพิ่มขึ้นมากที่สุดเมื่อเทียบกับซิสิกาเจลที่พีเอช 6 โดยผลของการดูดซับตะกั่วที่ความเข้มข้นเริ่มต้น 5 มิลลิกรัมต่อลิตร ซิลิกาเจลเคลือบด้วยโพลีเอทธิลีนไอมีนสามารถดูดซับตะกั่วได้ 6.72 มิลลิกรัมต่อตัวกลาง 1 กรัม คิดเป็นร้อยละ 59.18 และซิลิกาเจลสามารถดูดซับตะกั่วได้ 3.02 มิลลิกรัมต่อคัวกลาง 1 กรัม คิดเป็นร้อยละ 26.71 และความสามารถในการดูดซับจะเพิ่มขึ้นเมื่อความเข้มข้นเริ่มต้นเพิ่มขึ้น ส่วนที่พีเอช 7 ในช่วงความเข้มข้นเริ่มต้นต่ำกว่า 10 มิลลิกรัมต่อลิตร ซิลิกาเจลเคลือบด้วยโพลีเอทธิลีนไอมีนมีความสามารถใน การดูดซับใกล้เคียงกับซิลิกาเจล ผลการศึกษาผลของความแรงไอออนพบว่า ความแรงไอออนไม่มีผลต่อความสามารถในการดูดซับตะกั่ว และผลการศึกษาแบบคอลัมน์ พบว่าความสามารถในการดูดซับตะกั่วของ ซิลิกาเจลเคลือบด้วยโพลีเอทธิลีนไอมีนมี ค่ามากกว่าซิลิกาเจสอย่างชัดเจน และที่ อัตราการไหล 5 มิลลิลิตรต่อนาที และ 10 มิลลิลิตรต่อนาที พบว่ามีความสามารถใน การดูดซับใกล้เคียงกัน

การวิเคราะห์ผลกระทบต่อสิ่งแวดล้อมจากการประเมินวัฏจักรชีวิตของการผลิตกระดาษในประเทศไทย: กรณีศึกษาที่ 1 การผลิตกระดาษลอนลูกฟูกด้วยกระบวนการผลิตที่มีรายละเอียดการใช้วัตถุดิบการผลิตต่างๆ กัน, พรทิพย์ วงศ์สุโชโต, คุณาวุฒิ บุญญานพคุณ, วิทย์ สุนทรนันท์, พรพจน์ เปี่ยมสมบูรณ์, ประเสริฐ ภวสันต์

Applied Environmental Research

การประเมินวัฏจักรชีวิตกระดาษในงาน วิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อได้ทราบผลกระทบ ต่อสิ่งแวดล้อมอันเกิดจากการผลิตกระดาษ ลูกฟูกแบบต่าง ๆ โดยทำการรวบรวมข้อมูลที่จำเป็นต่อการประเมินวัฏจักรชีวิตสำหรับการผลิตกระดาษเพื่อสร้างฐานข้อมูล โดย กำหนดขอบเขตการประเมินวัฏจักรชีวิตให้สิ้นสุดที่ผลิตภัณฑ์กระดาษเท่านั้น โดยยังไม่คำนึงถึงขั้นตอนการจำหน่าย การใช้งาน และการจัดการของเสียจากการใช้กระดาษสำหรับประเภทของกระดาษที่เสือกศึกษาในโครงการนี้คือกระดาษลอนลูกฟูก ซึ่งข้อมูลการผลิตกระดาษและเยื่อกระดาษเป็นข้อมูล ปฐมภูมิที่ได้จากความร่วมมือของโรงงานในกลุ่มการผลิตเยื่อและกระดาษ ส่วนข้อมูลการผลิตในช่วงวัฏจักรชีวิตอื่น ๆ นั้นจะเป็นข้อมูลทุติยภูมิที่ได้จากรายงานวิจัยอื่น ได้แก่ NOH Report 9523 (1996), GRI Reports (2003) ส่วนการประเมินผลกระทบต่อสิ่งแวดล้อมได้จัดจำแนกตามกลุ่มผลกระทบ (Impact categories) 7 กลุ่มด้วยกัน คือ การเกิดปรากฏการณ์เรือนกระจก หรือ ภาวะโลกร้อน (Greenhouse effect หรอ Global warming) การลดลงของปริมาณโอโซนในชั้นบรรยากาศ (Ozone layer depletion) การ เกิดปรากฏการณ์ฝนกรด (Acidification) การปลดปล่อยโลหะหนัก (Heavy metals) การปลดปล่อยสารก่อมะเร็ง (Carcinogens substance) การเกิดโอโซนบนชั้นผิวโลก (Summer smog) การบริโภคทรัพยากรเชื้อเพลิงสิ้นเปลืองหรือพลังงานที่ใช้แล้วหมดไป (Energy resource depletion) และทำการเปรียบเทียบผลการประเมินจากการผลิตกระดาษลอนลูกฟูกที่มีรายละเอียดการผลิตต่างกัน เพื่อที่จะได้แสดงให้เห็นถึงประโยชน์ที่ได้รับจากประเมินวัฏจักรชีวิต

What Is To Be Done About The Radical Far-Right?, Bernard E. Harcourt

Faculty Scholarship

The far Right in America has become radical. In the process, it has outmaneuvered the progressives. In the first months of his second mandate, President Trump has mounted a revolution (or counterrevolution) against the liberal democratic state. Steve Bannon said he was Leninist and wanted to “smash the state.” President Trump has done just that. In this essay, I explore the far Right’s embrace of Lenin. I return to the Hegelian roots of Lenin’s politics to explain what he meant by “smashing the state machine.” I then argue that the Left should reclaim Lenin’s dialectics and his call, in the …

Nh Ece Research Consortium State Government Stakeholder Map, Jess Carson, Evan England, Briana Ermanni

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

New Hampshire's early care and education (ECE) ecosystem is complex and includes a broad, dynamic community of people and organizations who contribute to and rely upon ECE research. This visual stakeholder "map" documents the areas of state government that support the NH ECE field. These maps rely on contributions, updates, and refinements from the field and are meant to be a shared resource reflecting the complexity of partnerships in NH's ECE ecosystem.

Nh Ece Research Consortium 2026 Activity Timeline, Jess Carson, Evan England

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

The New Hampshire Early Care and Education (NH ECE) Research Consortium is a network of researchers and research users committed to strengthening the state's ECE landscape through data. Discover what Consortium staff have accomplished so far this year in the 2026 Activity Timeline.

Factors/Conditions For Nh Home-Based Providers Operations Survey Recruitment Flyer (English), Child Trends

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

No abstract provided.

The Accidental Entrepreneur: How Military Spouses Take Their Careers Into Their Own Hands, Jennifer Barnhill, Rosalinda Maury, Jeanette Harvie

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

The Accidental Entrepreneur is the second narrative profile in the Reimagining Military Spouse Employment series, a companion to the initiative's data briefs. Through the story of a mid-career military spouse who builds a business after repeated career disruptions, it examines why many spouses turn to entrepreneurship and what stands in their way. The profile covers the barriers spouses face when starting a business, including access to funding, certifications, and grants, along with the reality that self-employment does not eliminate the military spouse earnings penalty. It offers guidance for military spouses considering entrepreneurship and for the community leaders positioned to support …