Attending community college, parenting satisfaction, and academic perfromance

This research was a quantitative study designed to evaluate parenting satisfaction, academic performance, and students' perceptions of pursuing higher education in students attending community college. One purpose of this research was to determine if pursuing higher education at the community college level impacted the parenting satisfaction of community college students. To reach this objective, the researcher investigated whether parenting satisfaction levels of community college students differed from the parenting satisfaction levels of the individuals in the standardization sample for the Parenting Satisfaction Scale (PSS). This research also investigated the relationship between parenting satisfaction and academic performance. In addition, this research examined students' perceptions of how pursuing higher education impacts parenting satisfaction, the quality of the parent-child relationship, academic performance, the ability to achieve academic goals, and stress level. Demographic data was also explored to determine whether certain variables moderate parenting satisfaction, academic performance, and students' perceptions of pursuing higher education. Participants were community college students in southwest Florida who had at least one child under the age of 18 living at home. By understanding how attending community college and caring for children affects adult students' academic performance, community college staff can develop initiatives aimed at improving academic performance. Furthermore, by understanding students' perceptions of how attending community college affects elements of parenting satisfaction, community college staff can develop initiatives aimed at improving the perceptions and parenting satisfaction of adult students who are parents.