Sexed Differences for Student-Parents Pursuing Higher Education

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dc.contributor.authorAdams, April
dc.date.accessioned2025-07-30T14:45:08Z
dc.date.available2025-07-30T14:45:08Z
dc.date.issued2025-07
dc.description.abstractThis study uses newly collected data identifying students who are parents of dependent children (student-parents) as they pursue post-secondary education in Texas to explore the choices student-parents make in pursuit of their higher education goals. Prior research on student-parents have focused on their needs and have relied on population estimates or small or homogenous populations, limiting researchers’ ability to generalize about the relationship between a student parent’s sex and their educational choices. This led to calls for additional research using more diverse and larger populations. This quantitative, non-experimental, archival study seeks to determine whether sex-based differences are observable in the enrollment choices of student-parents in Texas public colleges and universities, using a gendered social control theoretical framework. With a sample of more than 7,000 student records, this study found statistically significant associations between sex and institution type and sex and enrollment modality for student-parents, using chi-square tests of independence. Two-sample proportions tests were then used to provide additional insights into the relationship between student-parents’ sex and their enrollment choices. Student-parents in this study overwhelmingly attended community colleges, rather than universities. While a larger number of mothers were enrolled, a statistically significantly larger proportion of fathers enrolled in community colleges, which may indicate fathers may benefit from more attention from community college recruitment teams and student affairs staff. While just over a third of fathers took all of their classes in fully online formats, nearly half of mothers enrolled in fully online courses, which was a statistically significant result. This study provides new insights for college administrators about how and where student-parents pursue post-secondary education
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11803/4538
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisher.institutionNational University (NU)
dc.subjectStudent-parents
dc.subjecthigher-education
dc.subjectgender
dc.subjectStudent Success Science
dc.subjectEducational Leadership & Learning Lifelong
dc.subjectWorkforce Development Needs & Industry Alignment
dc.titleSexed Differences for Student-Parents Pursuing Higher Education
dc.typeDissertation
thesis.degree.disciplinePsychology, Gender and Sexual Fluidity
thesis.degree.grantorNational University (NU)
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy
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