Familial and Relational Influences on College Outcomes among Minoritized Students

Dear Colleagues,

Research on parents and families in higher education in recent years has offered promising findings related to how students find family members to be supportive and helpful in their collegiate trajectories (Kiyama and Harper, 2018). Higher education research and practice emphasize the role of parents (Kiyama and Harper, 2015; Wartman and Savage, 2008), while we know that other family and non-family supporters are also key to students’ success. This is particularly so among students of color (Guiffrida et al., 2012). Individuals such as siblings (Ceja, 2006; Roksa et al., 2020), cousins (Knight et al., 2004), peers and mentors (Plaskett et al., 2018), parents or parental figures (Harper et al., in press; 2021), and other key supporters may be students’ first and most important source of support over faculty or staff members.

While the narratives of the parents and family members of today’s college students have been shaped by deficit narratives (Dennis et al., 2005; LeMoyne and Buchanan, 2011), more recent research (Kiyama et al., 2018; Kiyama and Harper, 2018; Ramos et al., 2017; Raque-Bogdan et al., 2013; Roksa et al., 2020; Sax and Weintraub, 2014) has illustrated the important roles that parents and families play in the transition in and through postsecondary education for minoritized students. This research acknowledges and emphasizes the agency and resources families access through their engagement actions (Kiyama and Harper, 2018). Such agency and resources are illustrated through inclusive frameworks such as Calabrese Barton et al.’s (2004) Ecologies of Parental Engagement (EPE) framework and Kiyama and Harper’s (2018) Model of Parent and Family Characteristics, Engagement, and Support.

The purpose of this Special Issue of Education Science is to highlight and further understand the ways in which minoritized students’ networks of support influence their college outcomes and success. We welcome research and scholarly papers focused on the ways in which parent, family, and relational support (e.g., partners, siblings, friends, community members, mentors, kin) influence college outcomes among minoritized students. We encourage authors to consider the breadth of how college outcomes might be defined, understood, and measured, inclusive of, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Highlighting students’ parent, family, and relational supporters and how they improve success outcomes (e.g., retention, engagement, graduation, job placement, skill development);
• Understanding the diverse types of supporters students turn to and what evidence exists related to the effectiveness of that support;
• Exploring the ways in which more expansive considerations of success (e.g., non-normative forms of success) are supported and cultivated by parents, family, and relational support networks for minoritized students;
• Emphasizing the ways in which higher education can be more inclusive of students’ support networks;
• Addressing opportunities and challenges related to connecting with minoritized students’ relational supporters;
• Addressing how networks of support might be unique and benefit minoritized students in purposeful ways.

Calabrese Barton, A., Drake, C. Perez, J. G., St. Louis, K., & George, M. (2004). Ecologies of parental engagement in urban education. Educational Researcher, 33(4), 3–12.

Ceja, M. (2006). Understanding the role of parents and siblings as information sources in the college choice process of Chicana students. Journal of College Student Development, 47(1), 87–104.

Guiffrida, D. A., Kiyama J. M., Waterman, S. J, & Museus, S. D. (2012). Moving from cultures of individualism to cultures of collectivism to serve college students of color. In S. D. Museus & U. M. Jayakumar (Eds.) Creating campus cultures

that foster success among racially diverse student populations (pp. 68–87). Routledge.

Dennis, J.M, Phinney, J. S., & Chuateco, L.I. (2005). The role of motivation, parental support and peer support in the academic success of ethnic minority first-generation college students. Journal of College Student Development, 46, 223–236.

Harper, C., Kiyama, J. M., & Lee, A. E. (in press). Finding balance: Staff members’ beliefs about parental contributions to college students’ independence. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice.

Harper, C., Scheese, L., Zhou, E., & Darolia, R. (2021). Who do college students turn to for financial aid advice and is it advice worth following? Journal of Student Financial Aid, 50(3), Article 2. https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jsfa/vol50/iss3/2.

Kiyama, J.M.& Harper, C. with Ramos, D., Aguayo, D., Page, L., & REister, K.A. (2015). Parent and Family Engagement in Higher Education. ASHE Higher Education Report Series. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Kiyama, J.M., & Harper, C. E. (2018). Beyond hovering: A conceptual argument for an inclusive model of family engagement in higher education. Review of Higher Education, 41(3), 365–385.

Knight, M., Norton, N., Bentley, C., & Dixon, I. (2004). The power of Black and Latina/o counterstories: Urban families and college-going processes. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 35(1), 99–120.

Plaskett, S., Bali, D., Nakkula, M., & Harris, J. (2018). Peer mentoring to support first-generation low-income college students. Phi Delta Kappan, 99(7), 47–51.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721718767861.

Ramos, D., Kiyama, J. M., & Harper, C. E. (2017). Controlling images: Institutional stereotypes of engagement of low-income families, first-generation families, and families of color. Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity, 3(1), 126–158. https://doi.org/10.15763/issn. 2642-2387.2017.3.1.125–158

Raque-Bogdan, T. L., Klingaman, E. A., Martin, H. M., & Lucas, M. S. (2013). Career-related parent support and career barriers: An investigation of contextual variables. The Career Development Quarterly, 61(4), 339–353. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2013.00060.x.

Roksa, J., Silver, B., Deutschlander, D., & Whitley, S. (2020). Navigating the first year of college: Siblings, parents, and first-generation students’ experiences. Sociological Forum, 35(3), 565–586.

Sax, L. J., & Weintraub, D. S. (2014). Exploring the parental role in first-year students’ emotional wellbeing: Considerations by gender. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 51(2), 113–127. https://doi.org/10.1515/jsarp-2014-0013.

Wartman, K.L., & Savage, M. (2008). Parental Involvement in Higher Education: Understanding the Relationship among Students, Parents, and Institution. ASHE Higher Education REport, Volume 33, Number 6. ASHE Higher Education Report, 33(6), 1–125.

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• role of parents and families
• family engagement
• student outcomes
• minoritized students
• higher education