Advocacy Born from a Mother’s Experience

New America: What brought you to the student parent field?

Dr. Ariel Sylvester: My mother’s experience is what brought me to the field. My father passed away when I was 10, and my maternal grandmother passed away when I was 12. My mother had to drop out of school to focus on taking care of me by herself. When I was 23, I began working on my master’s degree in early childhood administration, and my mother decided to go back to school for her associate degree in child development. She began telling me her story and what caused her to drop out of school when I was younger.

Because of her experience, I became interested in what supports were available to help single mothers stay in college. I came across the CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools) grant. I was interested in learning more about this program but didn’t see much research or hear many conversations about it. My mother encouraged me to get my doctorate. Initially, I didn’t want to, but she kept encouraging me. She told me I was good at school and that it would probably be easy for me. I also knew that I wanted to learn more about single-mother college students and CCAMPIS. When I finally decided to get my doctorate, I knew my dissertation would focus on that topic.

New America: What inspired you to write the book, Educating the Household?

Dr. Ariel Sylvester: Educating the Household is a book based on my dissertation research. I was encouraged to write this by my dissertation committee members, including Dr. Melissa Bradford of DePaul University, Dr. Marie Donovan of DePaul University, and Dr. Bill Ayers, formerly of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Dr. Ayers, or Bill as I call him, told me that my topic was great and should be heard by those who work with single-mother college students and student parents, policy professionals, researchers, and single mothers themselves. He felt that I had a great personal story to tell, great insight into this population, and great research findings. So, he encouraged me to write the book so that my research could be more accessible and understandable to the public. I’ll also be presenting my research at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference this year and will bring copies of my book to sell.

New America: What resources, programs, or research does this space need to advance policy for student parents and pregnant students?

Dr. Ariel Sylvester: I’ve found that a lot of published work talks about the challenges and obstacles that student parents experience, but not a lot of research highlights the supports that are in place to help student parents succeed and whether those supports are actually working. Take CCAMPIS, for example, there are so many people on college campuses who don’t know about it. Even my own alma mater and current employer—DePaul—didn’t know much about it. I was the first to introduce it and to talk about it publicly. Because of this, Dr. Marie Donovan wanted me to be a part of a scholarship opportunity called Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE). The opportunity is focused on early childhood workforce members. Many of them are non-traditional students who are interested in furthering their education and job prospects. Some of them have children, some are over the age of 22, and some work full time.

Even though these students aren’t necessarily parents, they have helped me to understand what supports are needed to help student parents be successful. Here are three key things that I believe need to happen to advance policy for student parents:

• Identifying the population on all college campuses: You can’t advocate for any type of student if you don’t acknowledge that they’re in your classroom. We have to acknowledge their existence to make space for them.
• Creating or strengthening programs and support groups: In addition to groups designed for student parents, there should be an advisor to help with picking out courses, financial aid, mental health, tutoring, etc. There should even be a scholarship for student parents to help cut the cost of college. In my mentoring role now at DePaul, I help with recruiting, advising, biweekly check-ins, and selecting courses. ECACE scholarship students have access to a mental health and wellness coach and tutor. If they tell me they’re having trouble with anything, I can connect them with the right people or resources across the campus. This way, they have someone who is there for them, knows them, and can advocate for them. Once you provide these supports to help them, then you can see what’s working and ask if they need additional help.
• Collecting data to show program success: Someone needs to collect the quantitative and qualitative data to prove what is working, what is not working, and what additional support is needed. Research has to be done in order to advance policy and advocate for change. The data, statistics, and personal stories are what people want to see. In order to advocate for funding, you have to state why it’s necessary.

New America: Why should policymakers and campus leaders focus on student parents?

Dr. Ariel Sylvester: When you advance policy to support single moms or student parents in general, you are also supporting their children. It has a multi-generational impact. Research from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research has shown that with every degree obtained, single moms increase their earnings, making it less likely that they will stay in poverty. Research has also shown that the likelihood of a child graduating from college is greater if at least one of their parents has a college degree. When we help student parents, we are breaking poverty cycles and, in turn, creating and hopefully maintaining educational attainment cycles.

My research utilized social capital theory. I believe that in order to help single moms and their kids you have to focus on their social networks and improve their social leveraging. There is no job in the world, no neighborhood in the world, no place in the world like a college campus. You have individuals who are knowledgeable in their respective fields and who are connected to other knowledgeable individuals in other fields. There are global connections as well. Being on a college campus can help student parents, and single moms especially, improve their social leveraging and opportunities for themselves and their children.

New America: What should be a top priority for policymakers to better support student parents and pregnant students in achieving postsecondary success?

Dr. Ariel Sylvester: In order for student parents to truly be supported on campuses, staff, faculty, and college presidents need to make student parents a priority. They can show this support by offering different class formats, lowering tuition, providing scholarships, and writing this population into their school missions and visions.

Colleges and universities should design their schools, programs, and campuses with student parents in mind. This can be done by having on-campus child care, family housing, support groups, etc. I also believe that there should always be more funding, grants, and scholarships created with student parents in mind. Taking care of a child can be expensive for anyone, especially with our current economic climate and inflation.

New America: What is most important to advancing equity for student parents and pregnant students?

Dr. Ariel Sylvester: To truly advance equity, you have to first acknowledge that there is inequity. Many systems weren’t designed with certain people in mind. To make those systems more equitable, we have to reshape them. College, originally, was not meant for women, people of color, and those who are economically disadvantaged. In order to make it more equitable and more accessible, we have created new majors, changed what is being studied, and focused on providing funding and resources for students who fit into those boxes. We have colleges specifically designed for people of color and for women, and we have community colleges that are more affordable.

We need to offer support groups and internships on college campuses designed with these individuals in mind. Coaches and some professors go out into high schools looking for the next top talent. However, we don’t do this for student parents. There are no groups on campus reaching out to them to join the student parent support group or student parent union. There aren’t many scholarships specifically designed for them. There aren’t many colleges specifically designed with them in mind. But their experiences matter, too.

New America: Is there anything else you would like to say or expand on that was not captured in the previous questions?

Dr. Ariel Sylvester: I’m a huge advocate for marginalized communities. I’m not a student parent, but I want to see that their needs are met and supported. To make those policy and equity changes, student parents must have a seat at the table, and we must listen to them when they tell us about their needs, what’s working for them, and what’s not working for them.

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