Single Parents Level of Hope to Achieve Graduation from College
Start Date
4-22-2020 10:00 AM
End Date
4-22-2020 8:00 PM
Major Field of Study
Psychology
Student Type
Undergraduate
Faculty Mentor(s)
Veronica Fruiht, PhD
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
The growing presence of student parents returning to college presents new challenges for institutions of post-secondary education to promote academic success in this demographic (Austin & McDermott, 2013). Despite their hopes of obtaining a degree to provide a better future for their families, 53%of student parents leave college within 6 years without a degree (Beeler, 2016). However, being hopeful enables student parents to focus on success which increase the probability to attain their goals and success (Snyder et al., 1991). The ability to achieve those goals comes from help-seeking, mentoring, and the ability to seek resources (Snyder et al., 1991). Help-seeking skills also support both academics and emotional intelligence to build academic success (Astatke, 2018). The goal of the present study is to examine if hope encourages help-seeking skills that increase academic success in the student parent population. The sample consisted of 20 single parent mothers that are currently enrolled in either community college or 4-year university. Participants were recruited via emails and social media via the snowball method. Constructs were measured with Snyder’s Adult Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991) and a help-seeking and academic success scale that were created by the researcher. Results expected to show that hope predicts help-seeking retention and academic success of single parent college students. The importance of these findings will be to continue to encourage hope for this demographic to ensure continued success for both students and institutions.
Single Parents Level of Hope to Achieve Graduation from College
The growing presence of student parents returning to college presents new challenges for institutions of post-secondary education to promote academic success in this demographic (Austin & McDermott, 2013). Despite their hopes of obtaining a degree to provide a better future for their families, 53%of student parents leave college within 6 years without a degree (Beeler, 2016). However, being hopeful enables student parents to focus on success which increase the probability to attain their goals and success (Snyder et al., 1991). The ability to achieve those goals comes from help-seeking, mentoring, and the ability to seek resources (Snyder et al., 1991). Help-seeking skills also support both academics and emotional intelligence to build academic success (Astatke, 2018). The goal of the present study is to examine if hope encourages help-seeking skills that increase academic success in the student parent population. The sample consisted of 20 single parent mothers that are currently enrolled in either community college or 4-year university. Participants were recruited via emails and social media via the snowball method. Constructs were measured with Snyder’s Adult Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991) and a help-seeking and academic success scale that were created by the researcher. Results expected to show that hope predicts help-seeking retention and academic success of single parent college students. The importance of these findings will be to continue to encourage hope for this demographic to ensure continued success for both students and institutions.