Preparing Parents to Support Their First-Generation College Students: The Role of Community-Based College Success Programs

• In Event: Supporting College Success for Economically Marginalized Students Through Community Programming

Abstract

Although research has found that economically marginalized students of color are more likely to complete a degree when they receive positive support from their own communities, especially family members, postsecondary institutions have provided little guidance to parents about the most effective ways they can be involved in their children’s educations. In response, some community-based college success programs (CSPs) have expanded their programming to prepare parents to support their students for the duration of college. However, to date there have been no evaluations of the mechanisms and effectiveness of parent preparatory programming in CSPs, resulting in a dearth of information about how parents can best be equipped to support their lower-income students of color through college.

This presentation will share results of a study funded through the Clifford B. Kinley Trust that used an exploratory mixed-methods approach to evaluate how CSPs prepare parents to support their children through higher education. Seven CSPs from the across the nation distributed an online survey in both English and Spanish to all of their current and former parents. Of those parents who complete the survey, 40 were selected to participate in a follow up interview to answer the following questions: (1) How do parents understand their role in their children’s college education? (2) What types of parent programming do CSPs provide to help parents with this role? (3) What program features enable parents to access and participate in that programming? and (4) What effect does participating in this programming have on parent expectations for their child(ren)’s education, their involvement in their child(ren)’s postsecondary schooling, and their children’s educational outcomes?

Results suggest parents had widely disparate experiences with CSPs and were, accordingly, impacted in different ways. Some parents described feeling supported and transformed by their child’s CSP, enabling them to better support their child’s postsecondary educational experience. Others, however, felt that they were impacted minimally. Organizational and personal factors that influenced these different experiences will be discussed alongside with recommendations for community-based organizations and postsecondary institutions.

Authors

• Sergio Maldonado, Purdue University

• Jaya Bhojwani, Purdue University