Experience
Student parents want the university to consider their needs, provide clear and consistent guidelines, and provide supports that reduce the barriers faced by students with caregiving responsibilities. In a family-friendly culture, student parents feel included and supported in balancing academic and family responsibilities.
Consider Policies
Ensure academic policies and practices consider the barriers faced by student parents. Create policies and procedures that support student parents’ full participation and provide student parents the opportunity to thrive. Clearly communicate work expectations, time commitments and accommodations.
What Students Told Us
Our research showed that students wanted to feel respected in their dual roles as parents and students. Students wished for programs and policies to shift away from the “one-size-fits-all” approaches and instead be flexible enough to support student parents’ needs. Students told us that they are grateful for their professors who are caring towards their parental responsibilities and make accommodations to meet their needs. Students appreciated and felt valued by the individualized support from instructors and shared hope that awareness of student parent needs would go beyond the individualized level across the university.
Suggestions and Examples
Resources
Becoming a Parent
The Family Care Office has a list of resources and supports for student parents and students who are becoming parents.
Best Practices for Supervisors & Instructors of Graduate Students with Family Responsibilities
Explore the School of Graduate Studies’ Best Practices for Supervisors & Instructors of Graduate Students with Family Responsibilities.
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Increase Practical Supports
Taking steps to increase supports for student parents’ practical needs – such as finances, access to affordable child care, and access to health care – is crucial to better supporting student parents at the University of Toronto. Financial stress and practical concerns about supporting their families can prevent students from being able to fully engage in their studies. Recognize that some student parents, such as single parents and international students, face especially acute and complex barriers and design supports accordingly.
What Students Told Us
Students believe supports should be available to reduce their stress about meeting basic needs and allow them to focus on reaching their academic potential. Students expressed the need for support such as financial bursaries and services that consider the unique needs of student parents. Financial pressures often lead student parents to take on additional employment, which further limits the time available for their own studies and parenting duties. Many students shared their anxieties about whether they could afford food and child care costs for their children. In one student’s words: “The financial part is really stressful. Very, very stressful.”
Suggestions and Examples
Resources
Financial Assistance
The Family Care Office has information on financial assistance for student parents across the three U of T campuses.
Child Care Assistance
The Family Care Office has child care assistance for student parents across the three U of T campuses.
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Encourage Academic-Life Balance
Actively promote academic-life balance and empower student parents to pursue their education while fulfilling their parental responsibilities. Encourage students to embrace ways that integrate their duties as both a student and parent.
What Students Told Us
Our research showed that it’s important for students to find a sense of balance between their academic work and family responsibilities. Students want to feel that they are taken seriously as academics and respected as student parents. When students perceived judgement from others for their parental responsibilities and time capacities, they felt incompetent and incapable of succeeding as parents and students. Our research showed that students felt confident sharing their unique challenges when their identities as both a parent and a student were acknowledged.
Suggestions and Examples
Resources
Navigating Caregiving and Studies
Students with family responsibilities have a lot on their plate! They lead busy lives with academic challenges and successes while also making time for family and community. These strategies and insights can help leaders understand how to better support student parents in balancing their responsibilities.
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Create Opportunities for Connections
Create opportunities for student parents to connect, share their experiences, and support each other through shared responsibilities. Give student-parents opportunities to talk openly and relate to other student parents about their experiences and create environments where they can share their concerns with a group that actively listens to them. Help student parents connect with others who empathize with their experience.
What Students Told Us
Our research showed that students wished to belong to communities where they can talk openly about their lives, including both areas of vulnerability and success. Student parents often feel like they are the only ones experiencing difficulty navigating school while parenting. When students connected with others who empathized with their experiences, they felt supported and capable of overcoming their challenges. Talking openly and relating to other student parents about the challenges they were facing made them feel less isolated.
Suggestions and Examples
Resources
Connect with Other Students with Families
The Family Care Office offers programming and provides spaces for you to connect with other student parents and caregivers.
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Promote Resources and Supports
Ensure that incoming and current student parents within your faculty or department are aware of the resources and supports available. Highlight Family Care Office programming, resources and supports along with supports offered by your faculty or department. Help connect student-parents with relevant programs, services, and support options designed for their specific needs.
What Students Told Us
Students told us that they sometimes learned information after it was too late. Some students shared that they did not know about the waitlists for child care until they arrived in Toronto. One student shared that they regretted not learning about the Family Care Office sooner. Students told us that their busy lives often prevent them from being aware of, and accessing, services and supports.
Suggestions and Examples
Resources
Students with Families
The Family Care Office offers programming and provides spaces for you to connect with other student parents and caregivers.
Family Care Resource Centre
The FCO also maintains a Family Care Resource Centre that highlights resources and supports in the community.
Family Care Office events
Family Care Office events include workshops and discussion groups open to the wider U of T community, programming for students, and family events.
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Celebrate Diversity
Challenge assumptions about who students are and what they bring along with them to their studies. Valuing these student parents for all that they bring with them to their studies increases their sense of belonging and reduces the barriers to their success in their studies. Ensure student parents feel welcomed and included in opportunities and normalize diversity in student backgrounds when designing for diverse needs.
What Students Told Us
Students shared feeling treated as an “exception” despite having many other student parents who attend university. One student wished the university would ensure that its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) policies would better account for the needs of students with children as part of the diverse university population.
Suggestions and Examples
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