Understanding family involvement, engagement, communication, and resource awareness through the lens of community college students

Although research has documented the value of parent and family involvement at the elementary and secondary levels, less is known about its impact on student performance at the postsecondary level. Even then, most of the research focuses on 4-year universities. Unfortunately, scholars know little about the impact of parent/family involvement and engagement at community colleges. Social and family capital theory supports the continued
inclusion of parent/family engagement throughout a student’s collegiate career, especially for first-generation and historically underserved students.
This quantitative, nonexperimental study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of parent/family involvement from the community college student perspective. The goal was to address how community colleges can empower families to support their student’s academic journey through family involvement, resource awareness, communication, and engagement
with the college. Through a questionnaire distributed to students enrolled at a large urban community college in the southern United States, the study focused on three variables: (1) level of parent/family involvement, (2) level of parent/family resource awareness, and (3) level of academic communication. The research explored the relationship between those variables and
student demographics, grade point average, and the student’s intent-to-persist. Secondary research questions explored student perceptions concerning satisfaction levels, communication
modes, parent/family engagement strategies, and barriers. Lastly, responses to an open-ended question provided a deeper understanding of what parent/family engagement means to students.
Significant findings included first-generation students (as defined in this study) reported less parent/family involvement, resource awareness, and levels of communication. Results indicated that student satisfaction with parent/family involvement tended to increase as the family member’s level of involvement, resource awareness, and communication increased. Findings revealed the more aware a student’s parent/family member was of the resources available on campus, the more they encouraged their student to use them. Results provide a potential blueprint for parent/family engagement offices on community college campuses.