Supporting Student Parent Success: Tips from Research and Practice

Authored by Victoria Fritz, PhD Candidate (Family Relations and Human Development) & Learning Specialist, University of Guelph

The university landscape in Ontario is changing, and our student body is becoming more diverse. As we see more students coming from non-traditional backgrounds (traditional being direct entry from high-school), we need to become more aware of the unique needs of our students in order to better support them as practitioners. One group, in particular, that I have had the privilege of interacting with both in my research and in my professional work, is student parents.

Important Insights from Research

Student parents are students who have their own children and are a growing group, representing between 11 and 16% of the total undergrad makeup from 1976 – 2005 (https://journals.sfu.ca/cjhe/index.php/cjhe/article/view/59). Given the advances in making education more accessible, including offering classes online and part-time program offerings, this percentage is likely much higher. In 2019, there were 1.4 Million students in Canadian universities (https://www.univcan.ca/universities/facts-and-stats/) – if we say that 15% of these were student parents, that is 210,000 student parents at University! A number that is larger than the total attendance at most of Ontario’s universities! Clearly, this is an important group of students.

While working on an important study with Dr. Tricia van Rhijn and colleagues, I was able to learn more about some of the challenges facing student parents and mature students at the university level of study (study here: https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/handle/10214/8732). In this study, we found that, when compared to their traditional counterparts, student parents and mature students often balance multiple commitments, are more motivated to study and more likely to succeed, and follow different pathways in achieving their degrees. In my 2016 Master’s Thesis work on low-income mature students, (article available here: http://136.159.200.199/index.php/cjnse/article/view/68658), I noted that a significant amount of students in my study (almost 40%) had children or other dependents demonstrating that student parents continue to be an important group.

Student parents experience unique challenges and successes in their pursuit of an undergraduate degree. In one research project, Dr. van Rhijn interviewed student parents to explore some of their experiences (https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cjnse/article/view/30527). This article provides a good overview of some of the concerns that this group faces. For example, student parents have to consider not only their own schedules, but those of their children and potential partners as well. In the study, student parents stated that they often had to make sacrifices in order to balance school and family. Student parents often experience challenges with funding, such as a lack of affordable childcare (especially on campus) and difficulty accessing traditional student funding (like OSAP). Further, student parents also are impacted by the age of their children: where younger children require more of their time and lead to less availability for school tasks. In van Rhijn’s study, several student parents noted that the institution could be more adaptive to meet their needs, for example by offering courses that are beyond the typical 9-5 offerings and offering classes online. 

Everall and Carliner (2020) wrote a book chapter on how university Libraries could adapt to meet the needs of student parents. Their chapter, based on a case study at the University of Toronto Library, talks about how Universities can adapt physical spaces to meet the needs of their students. Though space is important, the way we interact with students as university staff members is also important. Student parents have unique needs and unique challenge, as can be seen in this article (https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/students-kids-press-universities-support/).

Ideas for Supporting Student Parents

I have been working as a Learning Specialist at the University of Guelph since the Fall of 2015. In my work I meet one-on-one with students, build resources, and provide workshops and instruction on all areas of learning at the university level, including: time management and goal setting, critical reading and note-taking, studying and test-taking, error analysis, poster creation, presentations, procrastination and perfectionism, etc. I have been privileged to work with many student parents and these strategies come from our collaborative work together. As such, I would like to share some ideas about how individuals working in support or teaching roles at Universities can help support student parents.

Here are five main tips that I would like to share:

1. Let students be the experts in their lives – student parents may take less than a full courseload, they likely have other demands (beyond parenting) on their time, and they may take longer to complete their degrees. Let your students tell you what they need and what works for them. Remind your students that it is ok for them to follow their own path in education.
2. It can be super helpful to support student parents in breaking down tasks  – taking a big task and breaking it into smaller pieces is really helpful in getting things done efficiently and effectively.
3. Be creative when supporting student parents with time management. Collaboratively explore how tasks can get done in different ways – for example: doing readings while waiting for dinner to cook, setting time to work while the kids are sleeping, getting older kids to quiz you on content.
4. Encourage connection! Know the groups and resources on campus that can provide support – are there student parent associations? Mature student associations? This can help remind student parents that they aren’t alone and provide them with some institutional support in navigating their degrees!
5. Help students make the connection between life skills and skills that can be used in education – student parents often have great scheduling and delegating skills as they are juggling many responsibilities. Help your students see that these skills are also super helpful in completing a degree!

Student parents are an important group on campus and one that I look forward to continuing to work with. With an open mind and willingness to be adaptable and flexible, I believe that we can make university campuses a place of success and belonging for all students.