An Examination of Policies and Practices within Western Canadian Research-Intensive Universities that Support Students with Family Responsibilities

Usick, Brandy L.

An Examination of Policies and Practices within Western Canadian Research-Intensive Universities that Support Students with Family Responsibilities

dc.contributor.advisor	Eaton, Sarah Elaine
dc.contributor.author	Usick, Brandy L.
dc.contributor.committeemember	Barker, Susan
dc.contributor.committeemember	Burns, Amy Marie
dc.contributor.committeemember	Kuzhabekova, Aliya
dc.contributor.committeemember	van Rhijn, Tricia
dc.date	2023-11
dc.date.accessioned	2023-06-23T18:08:55Z
dc.date.available	2023-06-23T18:08:55Z
dc.date.issued	2023-06
dc.description.abstract	Canadian universities have an obligation to provide accommodation based on family status; however, few have services and policies in place, and little direction is provided by provincial and federal human rights legislation. Although students with family responsibilities are an underserved population on university campuses, the global pandemic has helped thrust caregiving into the spotlight. The specific needs and experiences of post-secondary students with family responsibilities are a neglected area within the Canadian literature. Addressing the needs of this student group is an important leadership issue because it touches on many facets of institutional priorities, including student recruitment and retention; success strategies; equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization initiatives; and supports for specific populations. There are also implications for policies related to academic concessions or accommodations. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how research-intensive universities in western Canada are contemplating students with family responsibilities as a policy issue and as a priority population for services and programs. The research question was, how do research-intensive universities in western Canada support students with family responsibilities through their respective policies, services, and programs? Five secondary questions were related to (1) human rights legislation and accommodation; (2) formal policies, regulations, and governing documents; (3) student services and supports; (4) leaders’ perception of their institutions’ supports; and (5) promising practices. Supporting the research design was the extant literature and policy theory. Four themes were identified from the literature: access and success, students with family responsibilities, human rights, and leadership, all of which served as conceptual lenses. Four policy dimensions: normative, structural, constituentive, and technical (Cooper et al., 2004) served as the theoretical framework. Using a qualitative research design, I investigated how five universities support students with family responsibilities. Data sources included publicly available institutional documents (n=267) and interviews with leaders (n=5) within student affairs. The findings led to the proposal of the flower petal model of supporting students with family responsibilities, from which seven main findings contributed to 18 recommendations. Implications and promising practices in the areas of accommodation policies, student services, and programming are shared.
dc.identifier.citation	Usick, B. L. (2023). An examination of policies and practices within western Canadian research-intensive universities that support students with family responsibilities (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116651
dc.identifier.uri	https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41494
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Werklund School of Education
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	student parents
dc.subject	student caregivers
dc.subject	family responsibilities
dc.subject	research-intensive
dc.subject	qualitative research
dc.subject	policy
dc.subject	student supports
dc.subject	COVID-19
dc.subject	post-secondary
dc.subject	higher education
dc.subject	university
dc.subject	Canada
dc.subject.classification	Education--Higher
dc.subject.classification	Education--Administration
dc.title	An Examination of Policies and Practices within Western Canadian Research-Intensive Universities that Support Students with Family Responsibilities
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Education Graduate Program – Educational Research
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Education (EdD)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.