Balancing Acts: The Interplay of Learning, Social Class, and Parenting in a Community College

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding Needs Based on Generation Status, Class, Race/Ethnicity, and Disability (Table 5)

Abstract

Community colleges serve as essential bridges to postsecondary education for many students in the U.S. and beyond, including parenting students who often use these institutions as amenable educational pathways. Unfortunately, parenting students too often encounter structural barriers to student success and access due to their compounding social roles as parents, workers, and students. This study aimed to center the voices of this student population and their unique trajectories by exploring the interplay of learning, social class, and parenting using a qualitative methodology to analyze survey data from a public, two-year college. Identified themes were framed through social role theory, based on how students perceived their own responsibilities in connection with their prioritized or changing roles.

Authors

• Andrea Arce-Trigatti, Tennessee Technological University

• Jacob Kelley, Auburn University

• Ada Haynes, Tennessee Technological University