Hispanic and African American student-fathers are an invisible population in the student support literature on college campuses. In this qualitative study, we examined the lived experiences of 17 student-fathers attending Hispanic Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Six themes emerged from our data: family support, uncertainty in parenting practices, co-parenting relationships, responsibility as a father, negative stereotypes, and fatherhood as motivation. Our findings have implications for institutions of higher education.
AugustineJ. M.PrickettK. C.NegraiaD. (2018). Doing it all? Mothers’ college enrollment, time use, and affective well-being. Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(4), 963–974. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12477
2.
BrooksR. (2015). Social and spatial disparities in emotional responses to education: Feelings of “guilt” among student-parents. British Educational Research Journal, 41(3), 505–519. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3154
3.
CammettA. (2014). Deadbeat dads & welfare queens: How metaphor shapes poverty law. Boston College Journal of Law & Social Justice, 34(2), 233–265.
DayneN.JungY.RoyR. (2021). Childcare, campus support services, and other barriers for college students who are parents at a 4-year Hispanic serving Institution. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15381927211005076
7.
DubowitzH.BlackM. M.CoxC. E.KerrM. A.LitrownikA. J.RadhakrishnaA.EnglishD. J.SchneiderM. W.RunyanD. K. (2001). Father involvement and children’s functioning at age 6 years: a multisite study. Child Maltreatment, 6(4), 300–309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559501006004003
8.
EdinK.TachL.MincyR. (2009). Claiming fatherhood: Race and the dynamics of paternal involvement among unmarried men. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 621(1), 149–177. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716208325548
9.
EllerbeC. Z.JonesJ. B.CarlsonM. J. (2018). Race/ethnic differences in nonresident fathers’ involvement after a nonmarital birth. Social Science Quarterly, 99(3), 1158–1182. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12482
10.
Ermis-DemirtasH.WatsonJ. C.KaramanM. A.FreemanP.KumaranA.HaktanirA.StreeterA. M. (2018). Psychometric Properties of the multidimensional scale of perceived social support within Hispanic college students. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 40(4), 472–485.
11.
FraserM. W. (1997). Risk and resilience in childhood: An ecological perspective. NASW Press.
12.
GadsdenV. (1999). Black families in intergenerational and cultural perspectives. In LambM. (Ed.), Parenting and child development in “nontraditional” families (pp. 221–246). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
13.
GoldscheiderF.BernhardtE.LappegårdT. (2015). The gender revolution: A framework for understanding changing family and demographic behavior. Population and Development Review, 41(2), 207–239. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2015.00045.x
14.
HayesD. H.JonesD. A.SilversteinL. B.AuerbachC. F. (2010). In their own words: Early head start fathers. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 11(4), 241–250. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021036
HussarB.ZhangJ.HeinS.WangK.RobertsA.CuiJ.SmithM.Bullock MannF.BarmerA.DiligR. (2020). The Condition of Education 2020 (NCES 2020-144). U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 8, 2022 from https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020144
17.
KensingerC.MinnickD. J. (2018). The invisible village: An exploration of undergraduate student mothers’ experiences. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 39(1), 132–144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-017-9535-6
18.
LovellE. D. (2014). College students who are parents need equitable services for retention. Journal of College Student Retention Research Theory and Practice, 16(2), 187–202. https://doi.org/10.2190/cs.16.2.b
19.
McCourtP. L. (2018). Supporting Student-Parents: A Qualitative Exploration of the Online Presence of Support at Postsecondary Institutions. Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses. 120. https://pillars.taylor.edu/mahe/120
20.
McLaughlinK.MuldoonO. (2014). Father identity, involvement and work-family balance: An in-depth interview study. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 24, 439–452. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2183
21.
MoreauM.-P.KernerC. (2012). Supporting student parents in higher education: A policy analysis (pp. 1–72). Nuffield Foundation.
22.
NegraiaD. V.AugustineJ. M. (2020). Unpacking the parenting well-being gap: The role of dynamic features of daily life across broader social contexts. Social Psychology Quarterly, 83(3), 207–228. https://doi.org/10.1177/0190272520902453
23.
RoyR.DayneN.WalkerA.BradecichA.LunaA. (2018, November). An Examination of Parenting Stress Among College Fathers Attending a Hispanic- Serving Institution. Poster session presented at the National Council on Family Relations, San Diego, CA.
24.
RoyR. N.BradecichA.DayneN.LunaA. (2018). The transition to motherhood: The experiences of college student-parents. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 110(3), 48–57. https://doi.org/10.14307/jfcs110.3.48
25.
SalleeM. W. (2015). Adding academics to the work/family puzzle: Graduate student parents in higher education and student affairs. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 52(4), 401–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/19496591.2015.1083438
26.
SibulkinA. E.ButlerJ. S. (2005). Differences in graduation rates between young black and white college students: Effect of entry into parenthood and historically Black Universities. Research in Higher Education, 46(3), 327–348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-004-1643-0
27.
StraussA. A. (1994). Qualitative analysis for social scientists. Cambridge Press.
28.
Texas A&M University. (n.d.). The Becky gates children’s center. Division of Student Affairs. https://bgcc.tamu.edu/parents/
29.
ThomasL.TalbotC. V.BriggsP. (2021). The digital lives of student mothers: A consideration of technologies that support or erode the student/parent boundary. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 154, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2021.102689
30.
WilliamsM.MoserT. (2019). The art of coding and thematic exploration in qualitative research. International Management Review, 15(1), 45–55.