The working group brings together educators, researchers and practitioners interested in engaging with parents and carers. Parents and carers are key influencers of young people but their knowledge of HE is not consistent across different groups which can reinforce inequitable patterns of HE participation, success and progression.

Themes of interest for the group include:

•Sharing approaches to creating parent- and carer-facing resources that demystify university culture and the admissions process.

• Sharing approaches to supporting staff involved in working with parents and carers.

• Exploring the parent and carer experience in the context of access to and supporting students success in Higher Education.

• Sharing approaches to developing holistic support options aimed at a diverse range of parents e.g. those without first-hand experience at university and those whose children or wards face additional barriers to access (based on socioeconomic status, ethnicity, disability, and so forth).

• Highlighting the experiences of parents and carers and championing a diverse range of perspectives.

• Evaluating the impact of engagement with parents and carers

Joining

If you're interested in joining this group, contact NERUPI.

Useful Materials

Public-facing advice:
https://www.ucas.com/discover/...

https://www.unifrog.org/blog/t...

Academic research:
The paradox of parents’ involvement in their children’s time at university

‘First in family’: higher education choices and labour market outcomes

Parental job loss and children’s career choices - ScienceDirect

‘They know nothing about university – neither of them went’: the effect of parents’ level of education