Gender Differences in School-Family Conflict and School-Family Enrichment in Nontraditional Portuguese Students

Abstract

In recent years, higher education institutions have made efforts to attract people who are either in the labor market or unemployed to the educational system. Accordingly, the participation of nontraditional students in postsecondary education has been increasing over the years in Portugal, including working students and working student parents. This growing phenomenon has received relatively little empirical attention since few country-level studies have been conducted targeting the combination of school with other life roles with a nontraditional student population enrolled in postsecondary education. The current study investigates the combination of school with other life roles for nontraditional Portuguese students enrolled in postsecondary education. Participants were 73 working student parents (enrolled in full-time undergraduate programs). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was used to test the model. The coexistence of school-family conflict and school-family enrichment was found. Gender differences on the antecedent variables of school-family conflict and enrichment were also found, emphasizing the advantage in examining conflict and enrichment experiences simultaneously and by gender when investigating school and family relations. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Measuring School–Family Conflict and Enrichment in University Student Parents: A Measurement Validation Study

“…The School-Family Enrichment Scale results, however, provide strong support that it is a valid instrument for measuring school-family enrichment among undergraduate university students who are parents. Since both scales have been successfully used in research involving university student parents (e.g., Andrade, van Rhijn, & Coimbra, 2017;Swingle, 2013), this study provides additional support for the use of these measures and a starting point for further development and testing, particularly of the School-Family Conflict Scale.…”

Measuring School–Family Conflict and Enrichment in University Student Parents: A Measurement Validation Study

“…The School-Family School-Family Conflict & Enrichment / T. van Rhijn, A. Acai, D. S. Lero Enrichment Scale results, however, provide strong support that it is a valid instrument for measuring school-family enrichment among undergraduate university students who are parents. Since both scales have been successfully used in research involving university student parents (e.g., Andrade, van Rhijn, & Coimbra, 2017;Swingle, 2013), this study provides additional support for the use of these measures and a starting point for further development and testing, particularly of the School-Family Conflict Scale.…”

Stress and family relationships among college student parents: A mixed methods study

“…For example, one mother’s report of her job flexibility and family-friendly environment emphasized how helpful it was to be able to make her own schedule and work in short increments of time (see Table 3 for direct quote). Workplace and school policies that have flexible schedules/hours could help student parents with their on-campus and off-campus jobs which is important especially given recent evidence that multiple roles do not always have to be in conflict with one another and can be beneficial for female non-traditional students (Andrade et al, 2017). We also learned from the qualitative interviews that many parents heard about the CCAMPIS program through informal channels such as friends rather than from official university sources.…”