2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The population of college students who are parents has grown significantly in the United States over the last two decades: currently, over a quarter of undergraduate students and over a third of graduate students are estimated to have dependent children. These student-parents share the same interest as their college peers: the opportunities for economic mobility and improved health that affect the trajectory of students and their families. On top of that, the literature on student-parents suggests that they have unique motivations in pursuing their degree when faced with challenges. Even still, experiencing poor mental health and carrying unique burdens on their time, resources, and responsibilities may be one factor related to why only a third of student-parents graduate college within 6 years. Despite the substantial challenges with which student parents are met, little empirical research has comprehensively investigated barriers and facilitators to their academic engagement. We believe that the engineering field is uniquely positioned for studying student-parents due to its high expectations of rigor, especially as expanding the engineering workforce becomes a higher national priority in the United States. In order to find ways to engage the untapped resources of students with existing family responsibilities, we aim to explore the challenges faced by undergraduate and graduate student-parents in engineering programs and how these challenges impact their academic performance and mental well-being. Doing so can better inform efforts that support student-parents in their academic journeys and promote policies that enhance their ability to succeed in their engineering programs. Given the limited research on the experiences of student-parents, this study employs an explanatory research design to remain open to emergent findings. In this first phase, we will gather quantitative data through a survey distributed to student-parents, focusing on their primary challenges and current usage of available resources. This portion aims to understand the primary challenges impacting student-parents and what resources and policies best address these challenges through a comprehensive survey. Recognizing that approximately 15% of student-parents are enrolled in four-year institutions, we will include both undergraduate and graduate student populations at a large public research university. We anticipate uncovering barriers to resource utilization such as lack of awareness, stigma, and policies that inadvertently disadvantage student-parents. Analysis of the data in this first phase, combined with feedback from colleagues, will enable us to better target an interview protocol for the second phase in the future. This interview protocol will aim to understand how parental responsibilities impact student parents' academic and mental wellbeing and what specific feedback they have on the adequacy and accessibility of campus resources.