Supporting Student Parents in Higher Education: A policy analysis (original) (raw)
Related papers
In the UK, widening participation in higher education has been a policy concern for several decades.1 Social divides persist, with gender, class and race key factors in terms of entry into higher education and in respect of the subject, level of education and type of institution students access.2 Yet, despite its mitigated effects, the widening participation agenda has been associated with considerable changes in the student population. In particular, many students now have some parental responsibilities.3 This socio-demographic shift and the different needs and expectations of student parents compared with those of their ‘child- free’ counterparts give rise to some challenges for university leadership and management teams, in a context where the growing presence of this group in academia has not been matched by an equivalent policy concern. With this context in mind, this briefing paper addresses the following questions: I What does the evidence available tell us about student parents enrolled on university programmes? I Which provisions and interventions are in place at institutional level? I What more can be done by universities to address the presence of students with dependent children in academia? To address these questions, this paper draws on a review of the evidence, with specific reference to the author’s recent work in this area, funded by the Nuffield Foundation as part of its Student Parents and Women’s Education programme.4 The paper starts with a review of research on student parents, before progressing to an exploration of the provision and policies currently in place at an institutional level and how they affect this group. The final section considers some of the reasons justifying an intervention in this area and provides some recommendations for institutions. Throughout this paper and unless stated otherwise, ‘student parent’ means higher education students with dependent children for whom they are the main carer, although it is acknowledged that some of these students have other caring responsibilities – and so do some of their child-free counterparts.
Parents in higher education: impacts of university learning on the self and the family
Educational Review, 2010
Intra‐ and inter‐generational social mobility have been implicit to a wide range of UK Government policies aimed at promoting social inclusion through a focus on education and employability. Framed by these policy initiatives and a critical look at widening participation in higher education, this paper reflects on the impacts of university learning on the self and the family among students with dependent children. With emphasis on, and differences highlighted between, male and female undergraduate students’ own (often gendered) constructions of the impact of their university experiences and aspirations for social mobility, the paper suggests that while these students face numerous and varied barriers to their learning, they are motivated by the impact their studying will have on themselves and their families. Of notable significance is how higher education is perceived to reverberate within the home, promoting a culture of learning among, and encouraging the educational aspirations of, children. The paper concludes that this potential and perceived social mobility necessitates a bridging of the rhetoric of access with a reality of accessibility and retention for those students with caring responsibilities and offers a number of recommendations to encourage this.
Partners in Progression Engaging parents in university access
This report, commissioned by King's College London and co-authored with Ellie Mulcahy at LKMco, sets out how parents’ engagement in their children’s education impacts on university progression, examines whether different parents have different attitudes and concerns about higher education, and illustrates how universities can best engage parents and carers in widening participation outreach. It provides schools and universities with an overview of the relationship between parental engagement, attitudes and concerns, and entry to higher education and provides practical guiding principles to shape universities’ and schools’ efforts to engage parents in outreach. The report draws together findings from a literature review and four strands of primary research: a national survey of parents’ attitudes and concerns; a focus group and interviews with parents; a Freedom of Information Request to 30 top tariff UK universities, and, five in depth case studies of universities’ parental engagement.
Barriers and Supports for Student-Parents in Higher Education
Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning JournalSpring 2023, Volume 15, Issue 3, 2023
Students who are also parents (student-parents) are unique and often underrepresented in postsecondary settings. Balancing the responsibilities of home life alongside academic pursuits is often challenging for students in general and for some student-parents even more so. Faculty and students in a partnership project at a mid-size university in Alberta, Canada, took on a small study to examine student-parent experiences at their university. The partner team describes how a unique blend of student-faculty collaboration looked at supports, barriers, and higher education student norms relating to student-parent experiences. This study looked at the available literature as a foundation to identify the concerns facing students who are parents in higher education settings, as well as the policies and practices of postsecondary institutions that support student-parents. Survey and focus group methods aided in our understanding of the lived experiences of studentparents and their views of support within the university. Recommendations for institutional policy and practices for more supportive learning environments for student-parents include accessible childcare, information about campus resources, faculty awareness and compassion, and facilities on campus that can foster a sense of belonging.
Parental Involvement in Higher Education_Dissertation
Parental involvement in higher education has become more prevalent on college campuses as evidenced by increased reports in news media, journalistic articles, and academic publications. Parents who play an active role in their children’s day to day college experiences present a new challenge for college administrators who often find themselves attempting to address parents’ concerns while being mindful of student development goals as well as complying with federal laws like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) which protect college students’ privacy. Using Nietzsche’s ‘perspectivism’ as a conceptual rationale and employing a sequential explanatory mixed methods design, this study set out to understand a) the common concerns and expectations of parents during their children’s transition to college; (b) how parents view their role during their children’s college experience; (c) how institutional structures such as programs and policies mediate parental involvement on college campuses. Results from this study support the notion that parents consider themselves consumers, involved partners and investors in their children’s college experience. Parental involvement in this study was driven by specific concerns parents had for their students’ academic or social wellbeing. Institutional policies were ineffective in mediating parental involvement and parents’ expectations were mediated more by their student’s ability to address parent’s concerns than by institutional structures. An effective institutional response to parental involvement requires institutions of higher education to meaningfully engage parents in a manner that is developmentally appropriate for the student and respective of the aims and ends of the institution.
Regulating the student body/ies: University policies and student parents
2016
Despite a cultural positioning of care at the margins of academia, student parents now represent a significant proportion of the higher education population in England and in other Western countries. Research shows that, beyond the diversity of their experiences, time, childcare, financial, and well-being related issues prevail among them. However, extant research concentrates mostly on the experiential level – often alluding to policies, yet rarely focusing on their role in compounding or easing the issues experienced by this group. Using the lens of sociological and feminist theories and drawing on data collected in ten English higher education institutions, this paper addresses this dearth of research. It does argue that, through policies that overall tend to be geared towards childfree students, universities contribute to the marginalisation of student parents within higher education. However, despite the prevalence of such policies, attempts to redefine the student body/ies in more inclusive ways are also identified, suggesting a partial transformation of academic cultures. Through its identification and discussion of various institutional policy approaches to student parents, this paper attempts to further the development of a sociology linking areas of society and of people's lives (in this case, care and academia) which have historically been constructed as separate, and to understand how institutional policies reproduce or challenge this binary.
Supporting the Well-being of Student Who are Parents
Academia Letters, 2021
In recent years, some community colleges have evolved into degree-granting institutions across Canada. At the same time, delayed parenting, changing family structures, and other social phenomena are features of the lives of students that influence their post-secondary success (van Rhijn, Smit Quosai, & Lero, 2011). Alongside these transitions, the supports and services offered to adult learners in community college settings; including family residences (Brown & Nichols, 2013), child care (Adam, 2014), and on-campus support groups (Moreau & Kerner, 2012) for parents have gradually diminished. It is within this context of institutional and social changes, as well as the shifting trends in academic programming and support, that we sought to understand the needs and circumstances of students who are also parents within an undergraduate college, turned university, setting in Canada. Research suggests that the population of students who are parents is increasing among post-secondary institutions and is estimated that over one-quarter of post-secondary students are parents (Adam, 2014; Demeules & Hamer, 2013; Flores, 2013; Nichols, Biederman, & Gringle, 2017), with the majority being women, low-income, or single parents (Demeules & Hamer, 2013), yet this population generally goes underserved with their unique needs unmet. There are numerous factors contributing to low degree completion rates and a sense of marginalization among students who are parents, including: barriers to accessible and affordable on-campus childcare (
2013
This article explores international student-parents'reflections about their children's difficulties as temporary sojourners in UK schools, and the ways in which they attempt to support them in the process of settling down at school. The data is drawn from qualitative research interviews (Richards 2003 and Hiller & DiLuzio 2004) with 25 student parents. The emerging themes focus on parents' attempts to assist their children with academic and linguistic problems and with making and maintaining friendships. A major theme emerges about the role of host schools, and also about the parents' emotional burden regarding their own compromised situation. The data reflects overall that the first year of sojourn is often more problematic than expected, and thus more research in this area is needed to address how universities interested in internationalisation can best support these student parents. Further, more research is needed into ways in which local schools, including both ...
Exploring Parents Involvement in University Students Education
Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies, 2020
Educationists has been focusing continuously on importance parental involvement in students’ education. This study was designed to find out parental involvement in curricular and co-curricular activities of university students. The population of this survey research was students studying in universities of Lahore Districts. Random sampling technique was used to collect data of three hundred students from different universities. The researcher constructed a questionnaire for finding out the opinions of students. After the collection of data, the quantitative data were entered in SPSS for analysis about involvement of their parents. The data was analyzed by using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations and correlations. Results revealed positive opinions and correlations regarding parental involvement.