Back in School: How Student Parents Are Transforming College and Family (The American Campus)

"Back in School explores what it means to be a successful student and how these valuations are shaped by access to resources and cultural beliefs regarding the perceived purpose of a college education as we venture forward into the twenty-first century. These student parents have chosen to be a part of a traditional campus culture, attending public colleges and universities where they can learn, grow, and prepare themselves for not just a job but a life outside of school and work. In challenging dominant paradigms regarding the purpose and function of public higher education in the twenty-first century, these students are also, albeit not always consciously, calling for changes in that will produce greater socioeconomic and gender equity in our culture, on college campuses, and in their personal lives"-- Provided by publisher Fifty years ago, students who were parents were a rarity in college classrooms, but by the beginning of the twenty-first century, over a quarter of all undergraduate students were parents. In __Back in School__, A. Fiona Pearson explores how these student parents navigate cultural norms and institutional resources, forging pathways as they journey to become better parents and successful students. __Back in School__ examines how policy makers, professors, college administrators, counselors, and social workers provide or deny access to child care, tutoring, financial aid, or other campus- or community-based resources. Pearson further explores how social norms and governmental and organizational policies influence access to these resources and student parents’ experiences on campus and at home.