Greer Jason, Ph.D.

Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life

Fordham University

JASPA 2010 Summer Institute

Millennial Parents

on Campus:Reflecting on how to Discover

Confluence with this Constituency

Presenter Background• Professional Experience working with Parents

• Educational Background includes research on parental involvement

Millennial Parents• Necessity to Understand Parental Involvement from a

Jesuit, Catholic Perspective

• Millennial Students

• General Information about Millennial Parents

• Helicopter Parents on Campus

• Cultural Cues and Standards

• Impact of Parental Involvement

• Parents in the Workplace

• Jason Survey Results

Necessity to Understand Parental Involvement• Jesuit, Catholic Values

• Cura Personalis• Men and Women For and With Others• Unity of Heart and Mind

• Student Affairs Professional Standards• Parents as constituents• Need for healthy parental involvement

Necessity to Understand Parental Involvement• Call for Parent Involvement by the Catholic Church

• encyclical Pope Pius XI 1939 Divini Illius Magistri-demanding parents rights to educate child in Catholic tradition

• Second Vatican Council-responsibility of the laity to be involved in education• Vatican II-education based on “common values”• Pope Paul VI’s leadership in 2nd Vatican Council led to Lumen Gentium -calls

parents to raise children led by spirit of Gospel• Pope Paul VI’s declaration Gravissimum Educationis 1965-Church is dominant

player in education, parents obligated to educate offspring in Christian manner• Ex Corde Ecclesiae 1990 John Paul II-strengthen Catholic identity of colleges and

their relationship with Church, doesn’t mention parents, but part of larger effort• Grace’s 2002 Mission Integrity- increasing role of laity to understand and teach

lessons of Catholic Education• Grace cited Congregation for Catholic Education’s Catholic School on the

Threshold of the Third Millennium 1998- decline in religious teaching and leading schools

Millennial Students• Parents try to make their children feel: special,

sheltered, confident, team-oriented, conventional, pressured, and achieving

• Conflicting views on Millennials• Empathetic vs. Narcissistic

• Manifestation of Traits on Campus• Mental Health• Consumerism/Entitlement• Overly dependant on Administrators, Faculty, and

Peers

General Information• Dubbed “helicopter parents” by Wake Forest’s

Mary Gerardy due to constant hovering

• New parents “stealth fighters”

• These parents want their children• Visits to infertility doctors quadrupled from 1986 to 1988

• Cultural Shift• Success of family oriented movies• Consumer focus on child-oriented products• National political focus on children

• Trends seen globally

Helicopter Parents on Campus• Present from Admissions through to the

job search• Prepping for college since nursery school• Involved in: application completion, course

registration, housing/roommate assignments, meal plan exceptions, etc.

• Record involvement in orientation, family weekend, etc.

• UVM: Parent Bouncers• Involved in: college choice, financial support, health

and wellness, student development, discipline, college outcomes, etc.

• Students often initiate contact

How much contact?• College Parents of America Survey 2007:

• 72.5% parents communicate 2-3x/week or more• Includes 30.7% at least daily

• 82% use cell phones frequently• 90% attended orientation• 70% visited campus at least 1-2x per semester• 81% say they are more involved than their own parents and 4%

are less involved

• King Survey 2007:• Parents actively seek information and have high expectations for

students & college to share information• More involved in high school, more involved in college• Parents think less involved with faculty than anticipated; students

think parents more involved with faculty than anticipated

• NASPA Longitudinal Study:• 88% parents consider selves very or somewhat involved• 77% offer advice• 76% attended orientation• Rely on cell phones and email

Getting Organized• College Parents of America

• Encourage “helicoptering”

• Focused on key items• Brand• Experience• Learning

• Institutions recognizing increased involvement• 93% administrators report greater parental

involvement

Cultural Cues/Standards• Contrast with in loco parentis, against

which these parents fought

• Parents get mixed messages• No grades or bills directly, but contribute to

financial aid equation• Parent involvement is required for K-12 success

• Can’t “shut-off” at 18 years old• How much is too much? What is the balance?

• Governed by FERPA and Clery Act

Impact of Parental Involvement• K-12: Parental Involvement is

demonstrated to have positive impact

• What is the impact while in college?

Student Development• Bowlby and Ainsworth Attachment Theory: parent-child bond

continues into adulthood

• College Student Development Theory often don’t address parental involvement

• Psychosocial Development: Chickering and Reisser Theory of Identity Development• Developing Competence: If parents solve child’s problems, student may

not develop competencies and may feel parents think them incompetent

• Moving Through Autonomy toward Interdependence: parents can inhibit autonomy by being overly domineering or providing excessive emotional support

• Developing Purpose: students may be fulfilling their parents’ life plan expectations instead of their own

• Developing Integrity: students may not move beyond adopting their parents values

• For all vectors, however, healthy levels of parent support will aid in development

• Cognitive Development Theory: often calls for individuals to establish personal autonomy and reject external authority if development is to occur• Greater parental involvement may inhibit authority rejection and delay

cognitive development

College Experience & Administrator Perception• Reports that parents who are better equipped

with resources from university had a positive impact on child’s academic performance

• NSSE demonstrates that students with parents who intervene on their behalf are more active in and satisfied with college

• Administrators fear that millennials are so reliant on parent advice that they are unable to make major decisions on their own, think independently, or deal with ambiguity

• NSSE also demonstrated parents who intervened often had children with lower grades: what came first, chicken or egg?

Media Portrayal of Parents vs. Reality• As of 10/17/07, 1.99 million google hits for “helicopter

parents”

• Reports on 20/20 and in The Chronicle portray helicopter moms as greatest danger facing undergrads

• Many stories anecdotal and not based on actual research• NASPA longitudinal study: only 18.9% of parents have contacted

institution on child’s behalf• Of those who contacted, 70.5% asked by child• Less than 1% parents report child rejected involvement

• Millennials are conflicted about parental involvement• According to CIRP Freshman Survey, students overwhelmingly

want parents to be involved at current or greater levels• According to Experience, Inc, a quarter of surveyed students in

2006 report that parents were overly involved to point of embarrassment

• Do students truly want their parents involved, or are they just not confident in their ability to succeed without parental intervention?

In the Workplace• Many firms reporting increased parent involvement and parental

impact; stories include parents:• Applying for jobs on behalf of child• Calling career counselors to contact prospective employers to praise

child’s qualifications• Asking to sit-in on job interviews and negotiate salaries• Contacting employers who have not offered their child a job or given a

critical review• Suggesting to employers that their child should work fewer hours, get

different assignments, or receive promotions• Reviewing and completing work for their child

• And millennials:• Consulting with parents on daily work concerns• Inviting parents to participate in performance evaluations and

responding poorly to criticism and failure• Lacking initiative, decisiveness and ability to think for selves; highly

dependent upon direction and needing detailed instruction• Unaware of workplace etiquette, expecting flexible schedules and

often quitting after short periods of time if feel needs are unmet

At Home While Working• Prolonged adolescence

• Living at home• Continued financial support• Assist with errands• Do housework and home repairs

• Fits with millennials made to feel special and sheltered

Jason Survey Results• Survey: quantitative survey distributed at

Catholic University with 759 respondents

• Research Questions:• How involved do college students at a Catholic university

perceive parents to be in their daily lives?• How satisfied are college students at a Catholic university

with the involvement they perceive their parents have in their daily lives?

• How involved do college students at a Catholic university anticipate their parents will be in their lives once they leave college and enter the workforce?

Jason Survey Results• Student Perception of Parent Involvement Theme

• Top three categories: Parent-Student Contact-Student Tell, College Finances, and Parent-Student Contact-School Tell.

• Bottom three categories: Online and Printed Communication, Parent participation in Campus Events, and Experiences with Faculty.

• Only one relationship between categories in perception theme and demographic variables was meaningful. • College Finances demonstrated significant relationship with Family income and

with Percentage of Education Funded by Parents.

• Behavior Sub-Category• Involved: Parent more involved with student than institution; college patterns

match HS.• Active: 81.4% of students report bills sent homes, 53% report that parents make

doctors’ appointments; 33.9% report that parents have access to grades.• No meaningful relationships between categories and demographic variables.

• Perception Conclusion: Student perception of the level of parent involvement depends upon the area of their daily lives being considered.

Jason Survey Results• Student Satisfaction with Parent

Involvement Theme• Top three categories: College Finances, Campus Events, and

Parent Involvement in Relationships. • No correlation between Campus Events and proximity.

• Bottom three categories: Parent-Student Contact-School Tell, Housing and Food Service, and Parent-Student Contact-Student Tell.

• No meaningful relationships between satisfaction categories and demographic variables.

• Satisfaction Conclusion• All categories between 1.99-2.11 indicate satisfaction with

perceived parent involvement on 3 point Likert scale.

Jason Survey Results• Expectation for Future Parent Involvement

Theme• All items between 1.82-2.04 indicate students

expect the same level of involvement after graduation for all items.

• Top item: Frequency of Contact with parents.• Bottom item: Experiences/Interactions with

my Boss.• No meaningful correlations between

expectation items and demographic variables.

Jason Survey Results• Correlations among Categories

• Within both perception and satisfaction themes, 75% of categories correlated, indicating consistency of responses.

• Across perception and satisfaction themes, only meaningful correlation was College Finances perception with College Finances satisfaction.

• Generalizability• 21 students at a second institution completed the survey, the

results of which were compared to a random sample of 21 students from the primary research site.

• Out of 230 items, only 8 items had statistically significant responses.• 7 of the 8 items were not representatives of the larger sample.

Jason Survey Results• Two conclusions emerged:

• Parents may not all be helicopters. Although parents very active in lives of children, students report that they do not insert themselves as often as media portrays.

• College Finances key item in parent-student relationship: • Second highest perception• Highest satisfaction• Indicates some involvement after graduation• Only category with meaningful relationship to some demographics

(perception category with family income and percentage of education funded by parents)

• Only category whose perception and satisfaction were correlated

Jason Survey Results• Implications for Practice

• Although students don’t perceive parents as helicopters, they are involved. Institutions should review resources and publications for parents.

• Parent councils should be developed, personnel should be thoroughly trained, and, at Catholic institutions, messages should be mission and values driven.

• Institutions should define goals for types of parent involvement.• Colleges should identify how best to provide resources to both students

and parents related to College Finances, focusing on those from low income families or families funding less of their child’s education. Resources should go beyond tuition and fee information.

• Institutions should explore ways to get parents more involved in Campus Events, especially Family Weekend, including lower cost and technological alternatives.

• Institutions should explore the areas of particular importance specifically on their campus.

What does this mean for practice?• What parental interactions have you had?

• Do they match the trends discussed in this presentation?

• How do our missions as Jesuit, Catholic institutions impact how we interact with parents?

• How do our interactions with parents impact our roles as Jesuit educators?

Resources2nd Annual National Survey on College Parent Experiences. (2007). Retrieved January 31, 2009. From:

http://www.collegeparents.org/files/2007-Current-Parent-Survey-Summary.pdf

 Alsop, R. (2008). The trophy kids grow up: How the millennial generation is shaking up the workplace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 Carney, K. (2004). Parent expectations of and involvement with their college student and a liberal arts college. Doctoral dissertation, The University of Iowa.

 Coomes, M. D. & DeBard, R. (Eds.). (2004). Serving the Millennial Generation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 DeBard, R. (2004 Summer). Millennials Coming to College. New Directions for Student Services, 106, 33-45.

 Elias, J. (2002). A history of Christian education: Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox perspectives. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing, Co.

 Hoover, E. (2008, February). Surveys of students challenge helicopter parent stereotypes. The Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A2.

Howe, N & Strauss, W (2007). Millennials Go to College: Strategies for a New Generation on Campus. Washington, DC: American Assn of Collegiate Registrars.

 Kadison, R. & DiGeronimo, T. F. (2004). College of the overwhelmed: The campus mental health crisis and what to do about it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 King, S. (2007). Expected and actual parental involvement during the college years: Perceptions of parents and students. Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia.

 Mullendore, R. King, S., & Watson, A. (2008, November 12). The Impact of Parental Involvement on College Student Development: A Longitudinal Study: Part I. Retrieved February 12, 2009. From http://www.naspa.org/membership/mem/pubs/nr/PrinterFriendly.cfm?id=1666

 Strange, C. (2004, Summer). Constructions of student development across the generations. New Directions for Student Services, 106, 47-57.

 Taub, D. (2008 Summer). Exploring the impact of parental involvement on student development. New Directions for Student Services, 122, 15-28.

 Tulgan, B. (2009). Not everyone gets a trophy: How to manage Generation Y. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 Twenge, J. M. (2006). Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before. New York: Free Press.