Institutional support for skill upgrading and post-secondary navigation to bolster student parents' academic self-efficacy¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article recommends that institutions support student parents in upgrading academic skills and navigating the post-secondary environment. The authors reason that "Beginning post-secondary study after an extended period of absence from the formal school environment may negatively impact student parents' self-efficacy beliefs with regards to their capacity to do well in school," and that "student parents might benefit from institutional support in upgrading their skills and navigating the post-secondary environment in order to increase self-efficacy beliefs and reduce attrition." This strategy targets the academic self-efficacy pathway identified in the structural model.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Institutional programs that address both academic skill upgrading and orientation to the post-secondary environment

Constraints¶

• Recommended based on cross-sectional correlational findings; causal impact on self-efficacy or attrition not yet tested

Target Learners¶

• student parents returning to formal education after an extended absence

Target Learning Goals¶

• academic self-efficacy
• persistence and retention in post-secondary study

Related Strategies¶

• Recognize student parents as a distinct population rather than subsuming them within mature or non-traditional learners

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Tricia M. van Rhijn & Donna S. Lero. (2014). The influence of self-efficacy beliefs for student parents attending university. International Journal of Lifelong Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2014.884178