Student Parents, Decision-Making, and Role Strain

Abstract

Within much of the world, an increase in the number of years of education coincides with a delay in childbearing, and a reduction in the number of total children. But millions of student parents have made the decision to do these two bottomless tasks at the same time. Extant research has not fully explored the decision-making process for student parents—both how the decision is made to become a student parent, but also what decisions are made on a daily basis in order to succeed as a student parent. Forty-four student parents at the University of Washington were interviewed and surveyed. Findings suggest that student parents make the decision to become a student parent when they are ready, willing, and able to make the transition from student (or parent) to student parent. Broader contexts, such as institutional support, and city or statewide programs have a larger impact on the subsequent daily decisions student parents must make more than on the anchoring decision.