Examining Service experiences and integration in the British Armed Forces through an ontological security lens

This research explores the integration of women and LGBTQ+ individuals in the British Armed Forces through examining experiences and representations of Service, and diversity and inclusion policy development and implementation.

This research project connects diverse literatures on ontological security, feminist security studies, and war studies to explore the challenges around the implementation of diversity and inclusion policies in the British Armed Forces related to women and LGBTQ+ personnel. The project aims to develop a framework for better understanding the interconnectedness of these subjects through the use of an ontological security lens and an analysis of diverse service experiences with the goal of influencing policy to better support women and LGBTQ+ individuals pursuing careers in defence and security.

• How does the incorporation of an ontological security lens into a feminist critical military studies approach allow us to better understand integration and inclusion practices in the British Armed Forces at the individual and institutional levels?
• Where do women and LGBTQ+ personnel “fit”? And how does the institutional pursuit of ontological security impact their individual sense of ontological security and vice versa? 

Women and LGBTQ+ Service personnel and Veterans (n = 30); individuals working in organisations and on policies related to diversity and inclusion in or adjacent to the British Armed Forces (NGOs, charities, researchers etc.) (n = 20).