Description
Significant research examines parent engagement with schools and other research considers parents’ work environments. However, little research examines the interplay of work, home, and school. When I was an elementary special educator, I observed how workplace policies and practices, particularly in low-wage jobs, complicated parents’ ability to engage in school and how the community resources were often too limited to bridge the gap. Doctors’ offices closed too early. Free afterschool care had too few spots. Community child mental health was often inaccessible. Child-serving professionals, like us teachers or child welfare workers, rarely considered the challenge of balancing home and work. Through this research I hope to start to illuminate this missing piece and center parents’ voices to inform schools and communities about ways to improve their parent engagement supports.
The data for this project comes from a broader study of how single parents working low-wage healthcare jobs navigate home, work, and their children's elementary school experiences. Data were collected in a major urban center and includes qualitative data from two semi-structured interviews.
The undergraduate research assistant for this project would support analysis focusing on how low-wage work and school factors affect parents' ability to engage in their children's schooling. This work applies a social work perspective, meaning that it employs an ecological theoretical framework and a social justice-oriented lens. Though it is in social work, students from psychology, education, criminal justice, sociology, or even economics (and more!) may be interested in this work as it is looking at how complex social factors affect family life. Training, coaching, and mentorship will be provided to support the undergraduate research assistant in developing the required skills for the work.
Qualifications
Strong reading comprehension
Enthusiasm about relevant topics (e.g., parent enagement, low-wage labor, poverty, inequalities)
Duties
Definite: Reading, annotating, and synthesizing research literature
Possible/Optional: Qualitative coding, formatting research brief