HEAL 221: Student Affairs in Higher Education

Chapter 22: Engaging Student Parents

Class date: November 29, 2022
Facilitator: Jazmyne Barron, Lesly Beas

Title: Engaging Student Parents

Participants: Colleagues in the HEAL 221 Class

Length: 30 Minutes

Lesson informed by: Quaye, S. J., & Harper, S. R., & Pendakur, S. L. (Eds.) (2020). Student
engagement in higher education: Theoretical perspectives and practical
approaches for diverse populations (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
● Chapter 22: Engaging Student Parents, Margaret W. Sallee

Lesson focus: Identifying challenges, theoretical perspectives, and strategies relating to

student parents.

Lesson Explanation: In this facilitation, we hope to engage our colleagues in a meaningful

discussion surrounding engaging student parents. The chapter discusses the
challenges that they face during their educational journey at a university.
These challenges include a lack of affordable childcare centers at
institutions, negative experiences with faculty and staff, as well a lack of
support from their partners. The theoretical perspective that we will be
discussing is the role strain theoretical framework. This theory talks about
how student parents have to manage different roles, responsibilities, and
relationships. We will then describe multiple strategies that can help
student parents during their time in college. Moreover, we will create a
class discussion focusing on their initial reactions, what they learned, and
any personal connections to the chapter. We will host an activity that has
students compare 2 student schedules, one as a “traditional student” and
one as a “student parent”. This activity will help students reflect on time
management and better understand the challenges of student parents.

Learning Outcomes:
● Students will be able to identify challenges that student parents face, and
how these challenges impact their access to education.
● Students will be able to explain the role strain theoretical perspective and
the different ways multiple roles affect student parents.
● Students will be able to describe strategies that can help engage student
parents.
Content Outline: Total 30 minutes
I. Icebreaker 2 minutes
II. Reading reflection: 8 minutes
III. Class Discussion 6 minutes
IV. Time Management: Individual activity/discussion 20 minutes
V. Questions/Final Thoughts 3 minutes

Materials:
● Activity sheets
● Note-cards

I. Icebreaker 2 minutes
A. At the beginning of the session, Lesly will ask colleagues to close their eyes for 30
seconds and open their eyes after what they believe has been 30 seconds. Nobody
can watch the clock but I will measure the time.
1. The goal of this icebreaker is to reflect on how we all have different
perceptions of time (e.g. for some it may be slow, for others it may be fast).
2. Jazmyne: This icebreaker is meant to show how valuable time is and will
relate back to our activity later

II. Reading Reflection 8 minutes

A. Challenges
1. At the start of this session, we will ask our colleagues: What are some
challenges that you learned that student parents go through that the chapter
mentions?
2. We will then discuss the challenges that student parents go through that are
mentioned in the chapter.
a) Campus Services
(1) Student-parents across different institutions notice that there
is a lack of available and affordable childcare.
(2) “One study estimated that campus childcare centers only
meet one-tenth of demand (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen,
2010). Access to affordable childcare has declined across
the country” (Gault, Milli, & Cruse, 2018). “For example,
only 47% of community colleges had campus childcare
centers in 2012, a 10% decrease from 2002” (Nelson et al.,
2013).
(3) Although some campuses might offer childcare centers,
student-parents typically report that they are prohibitively
expensive or the waitlists are too long.
(4) Use of campus child care can play a huge role in student
parent retention.
b) Campus Actors
(1) “Faculty and staff can also play an important role in the
persistence of student parents. Some have found faculty and
staff to be quite helpful to student-parents” (Austin &
McDer- mott, 2003-2004; Estes, 2011, Katz, 2013;
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 Kensinger & Minnick, 2018). However, positive faculty
experiences were not universal as some wished that faculty
exhibited greater understanding and more knowledge of the
demands facing student-parents (Brown & Nichols, 2013;
Lynch, 2008; Robertson & Weiner, 2013; Springer, Parker,
& Leviten-Reid, 2009).
(2) “For example, participants in Robertson and Weiner's (2013)
study felt that faculty did not understand when family
emergencies, such as a child's illness, interfered with their
ability to attend class or submit an assignment on time”
(Sallee, 2020, p. 387).
(3) Some student parents also experience social isolation,
therefore peer networks (which includes family and friends)
can be significant to their success in college.
c) Individual Barriers and Supports
(1) “Many note a significant lack of time due to their multiple
responsibilities, often leading to role conflict” (Sallee, 2020,
p. 387).
(2) “Many student-parents simply do not have enough hours in
the day to fulfill their competing responsibilities
(Christopher, 2004) or to attend to their own needs (Moreau
& Kerner, 2015). From attending classes to studying to
working to taking care of their children, their days are full -
and far busier than those of non parents. The majority of
these hours are those spent on child-related tasks, though
parents also spend more time working and on housework”
(Sallee, 2020, pp. 387-388).
(3) As mentioned before, the help of family members is critical
to the success of student parents. “Although it has been
proven that mothers provide a consistent source of support,
the evidence is mixed as to whether partners are always
helpful. For example, one-third of single mothers in
Christopher's (2004) study noted that their children's father
helped with childcare, though they were not always
consistent in doing so. Some boyfriends and other family
members were noted for not just being unhelpful, but for
actively working against student-parents' pursuit of a college
degree” (Sallee, 2020, p. 388).
B. Theoretical Perspective: Role Strain
1. “Goode’s (1960) theory of role strain focuses on how individuals navigate
multiple roles” (pg. 390)
a) “demands are required at different times and places”
b) “individuals enter into multiple role relationships”
(1) can be a parent, a student, an employee, and a child at the
same time
c) “Each role may call for multiple, and sometimes conflicting
priorities “
d) “many roles are part of ‘role sets’ in which an individual might
engage in several role relationships with different responsibilities”
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 2. Coping with Role strain
a) “compartmentalization, an individual focuses on one role demands
to the exclusion of all others”
b) “delegation, an individual identifies another person to take on one
or more of their roles”
c) “role eliminations, an individual might eliminate one or more
burdensome relationships”
d) “role extension, an individual might take on even more roles,
sometimes as an excuse for failing to live up to the demands
required of their other roles”
C. Student Engagement Strategies
1. Replace the Careblind Campus With the Caring Campus (pg 391)
a) adopting universal design in programs and services that considers
student-parent needs
(1) Includes actively welcoming children in all spaces, except
where it might be dangerous such as science labs
b) Provide changing tables in all restrooms
c) building support systems for student-parents
(1) provide women who give birth mid-semester with
accommodations, such as automatic incompletes
d) Training all faculty and staff to be more responsive to
student-parent needs, and encouraging faculty and staff to make
their own responsibilities visible
2. Provide Affordable and Accessible Childcare (pg 391-392)
a) campuses with childcare should make sure student-parents have
access to it. They can do this by:
(1) allowing parents to reserve spots
(2) offering scholarships to subsidized often-costly fees
(3) offering lists of nearby childcare centers
(4) ideally helping subsidize the cost of off-campus childcare
through scholarships
b) With night classes, campuses could offer evening hours for their
on-campus childcare facilities
c) Drop-in services for students who may want to study or meet with
groups for projects
d) Offer backup childcare if their children are sick
(1) sends a professional into the home who will watch their
child on an hourly basis
3. Establish a Liaison Between Campus Financial Aid and Welfare (pg 392)
a) provide an official liaison to assist student parents in navigating
welfare programs and financial aid
4. Capitalize on the Power of Peer Support (pg 392)
a) help students develop a support system by offering student-parent
support groups
5. Offer a Comprehensive Support Program (pg 392-393)
a) create programs that help students navigate concerns they face
(1) offer academic advising and counseling
(2) offer workshops on a variety of topics

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 (a) time management, financial aid assistance,
navigating multiple identities
(3) assist in helping students to find a job on campus

III. Class Discussion (6 minutes)

A. Ask these questions to the class to begin the discussion.
1. What did you learn about this chapter? (2 minutes)
2. What was your reaction to the chapter? or What surprised you the most? (2
minutes)
3. If you feel comfortable sharing, did anyone have any personal connections
to this chapter? (2 minutes)

IV. TIME MANAGEMENT: ACTIVITY/DISCUSSION 20 minutes

A. Introduce the activity: This will be done individually
1. On the piece of paper in front of you in the 24-hour schedule, map out your
typical Tuesday schedule. Be sure to include class times, commute times,
times you normally eat, wake up, sleep, etc…
2. Students will have 8 minutes to complete their schedule
B. Explain the next part of activity
1. Once they have completed their Tuesday schedule, they will then receive a
note card with additional responsibilities that an average student parent
holds. With this new note card, they will create a new schedule, adding
their new responsibilities to their already existing schedule.
C. Discussion
1. What were your thoughts after completing this activity?
2. What differences did you notice before and after receiving the note card?
3. How did planning your new schedule make you feel?

V. QUESTIONS/FINAL THOUGHTS 3 minutes

A. Does anyone have any questions?
B. Thank you for your time!