Lone parents’ lived experience of the challenges and benefits of participating in higher education

Background to the Research

The under-representation of lone parents in HE continues to be a significant problem despite an agenda of widening participation in education policy over several decades.  The current National Access Plan for Equity of Access, Participation and Success in Higher Education (2022-2028) (Higher Education Authority, 2022) sets out a vision to ensure that the student body entering and completing higher education (HE) reflects the diversity of Ireland’s population. Among the main target groups in the Plan, lone parents are identified as a subgroup of those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and require additional support to access HE. Given the increased emphasis on access to HE for lone parents in educational policy discourses, and the dearth of research in Ireland and internationally, this project aims to document lone parents’ pathways into HE, the potential challenges they face, their experiences of HE, and the supports/key individuals who helped them progress through college.  

This is an engaged research project based on a partnership between One Family, Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families, and researchers at University College Cork and Trinity College Dublin. 

Aims and Objectives

This project aims to develop an in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of lone parents in HE and how they negotiate student and caring roles.  In particular, it will:  

• Explore lone parents' pathways into HE, including motivations, ‘triggers’ and supports;
• Document lone parents’ perceptions of the challenges and benefits of participating in HE; and the services/supports that facilitate persistence;
• Provide recommendations to inform policy and practice;
• Generate data relevant to One Family’s support work with lone parents and their policy work in support of ‘education first’ and widening participation in HE; 
• Build capacity for future research.

Methodology

This project will employ a mixed-method approach, beginning with an online survey to capture the range of experiences of student lone parents currently in higher education and those who have completed their qualification. Building on the baseline knowledge of experiences and issues generated by the survey, eight in-depth interviews will be conducted with student lone parents. Audio diaries will also be used as a means of capturing participant experiences of life in college and the juggle of caring, studying and other commitments, and reflections on these experiences in the context of their overall experience of attending college.   Complementing the interviews, the diary method will generate in-depth insight into the temporal, spatial and emotional everyday reality of participating in HE as a student lone parent. 

Funder & Project Dates

This project is funded under the Irish Research Council's New Foundations Programme from December 2023 - December 2024. 

Project Team

Dr Fiona Dukelow (PI), Dr Margaret Scanlon and Edith Busteed (School of Applied Social Studies & ISS21, University College Cork), and Dr Joe Whelan (School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin) in partnership with One Family.

Project Advisory Group

Contact

For further details on the project email: f.dukelow@ucc.ie or ebusteed@ucc.ie