Campus day-care facilities will make all the difference, say researchers

Canada’s northern and Aboriginal students will have a better chance of completing post-secondary studies if universities make day-care facilities as ubiquitous as libraries on campus, say two University of Manitoba researchers.

Colin Bonnycastle and Susan Prentice will be at Congress 2009 to present the results of a survey of students enrolled in post-secondary education in northern Manitoba.  What they found was that the student body in the north is very different from what it is in the south, and as a result the students there have a different range of needs.

Three-quarters of the 75 students interviewed were Aboriginal, and 78 per cent were female. But the key difference was age: These are overwhelmingly mature students, with an average age of 31, compared to 22 in the south. As a result, some 70 per cent of the northern students have children, and must balance studying with family obligations. But because the university system is keyed to younger people – people who don’t have a spouse or children – that’s not easy to do.

And that, say the two researchers, is why many northern and Aboriginal students find it hard to finish their education.

Dr. Prentice said that their survey showed that in the course of a single month, 58 per cent of the students surveyed reported being late for class because of a child-care issue, and 68 per cent said they had to leave class early because of their children. And almost half were unable to attend some school activity because they couldn’t find someone to take care of their children.

“And that’s just in one month!” said Dr. Prentice. “Think of what that means over the course of an entire year! Child care is a major barrier.

“In the past, we’ve said they don’t succeed because they are weak students who have failings,” said Dr. Prentice, a professor and Chair of Graduate Studies in Sociology at the University of Manitoba.

“We think this is wrong. When you put it all together, you find out that work/family stress is a big part of what makes it difficult for them to stay in school.”

Dr. Prentice said that universities – particularly those that set up campuses in northern communities or attract northern students – will have to rethink their approach if they want mature students to succeed.

For example, she said they should consider making classes coincide with the school day for primary and secondary students. And there should be no evening classes if no day care is available.  

She said post-secondary institutions will also need to rethink their student housing and student loans.  For example most campus housing, she said, is geared to the needs of a single person in his or her early 20s, rather than a mature student with a family. The same applies to student loans, which may cover the living expenses of a single person, but isn’t enough for someone with children.

“Until we start providing these resources, it’s unfair to put the blame on the students themselves for failing to overcome the structural barriers,” she said.  “Nobody debates that a university needs a library. It’s time to start recognizing that day care is just as essential.”