Community College Single-Parent Students’ Angst: Inequities Balancing Roles as Parent and Student

ABSTRACT

Single-parent students are predominantly female, identified as a marginalized group, and a growing population on community college campuses which poignantly suggests an opportunity for change. Single-parent students (n = 12) described angst as they balanced their roles and responsibilities between single-parent and student. Meg stated, “friends are not a priority. It’s like this constant balancing act. Everything is going a million miles a minute, so fast-the teaching, homework, learning, my kids, the days, studying.” Using a qualitative approach, interviews were conducted, themes generated, and needs established. The themes of structure, stress, and isolation were used to identify homework-support needs, and from the themes of guilt and isolation, family-friendly social activities were considered. The meaning was clarified to implement student–parent homework support groups and family-friendly social activities. This study was conducted by a single-parent undergraduate-researcher as a freshman with her faculty mentor; as a sophomore work-study student, she coordinates the student–parent program.