Student-Parent Experiences in Higher Education
Summary
Globally, the number of learners undertaking higher education while raising children has risen, reflecting efforts to widen participation among mature and non-traditional students. Student-parents navigate complex dual roles, balancing academic responsibilities with childcare, financial obligations and emotional labour. Their experiences are shaped by institutional policies, availability of childcare and social support networks, digital infrastructure and prevailing cultural attitudes towards parenting in academia. Research highlights how intersecting factors such as gender, socioeconomic status and ethnicity modulate outcomes, with many student-parents reporting heightened stress, feelings of isolation and challenges in accessing resources. Conversely, flexible learning modalities and targeted support services have demonstrated potential to mitigate barriers, enhance well-being and promote academic persistence. A comprehensive understanding of these dynamics is critical to inform equitable policy design and practice across diverse educational contexts.
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Student-Parent Experiences in Higher Education publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in student-parent experiences in higher education across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Intersectionality: Analytical framework recognising how overlapping social identities and related systems of oppression, domination or discrimination affect individual experiences and access to resources.
Social–ecological model: A theoretical approach considering the interactions between individual, interpersonal, community and societal factors in shaping behaviours and outcomes.
References
- Parenting by day, studying by night: challenges faced by student-parents in the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational Review (2024).
- Accessing and experiencing higher education: young fathers in the UK. Research in Post-Compulsory Education (2024).
- A retrospective analysis of the perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on systemic barriers to success for university student parents. Frontiers in Education (2024).
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