Abstract
The positive impact of parent/guardian engagement on a child’s educational
experience along all points of the educational pipeline is well documented. Level of
parent/guardian engagement is linked to parent income and education level. In turn, level
of formal education impacts access to resources, channels of information, and the
availability and effective use of social capital. Engagement of parent/guardians of firstgeneration students has been studied in the public school and post-secondary arena but
what is missing is the examination of the experience of engagement of parents/guardians
of first-generation students as a function of social capital in the private, Jesuit secondary
school setting. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how 18
parents/guardians of first-generation students experienced and perceived engagement in
their student’s educational experience as a function of social capital. Ethical leadership
informed by the Ignatian charism of cura personalis and employment of the Best
Interests of the Student framed this phenomenological study. The primary findings
suggest that parents/guardians of first-generation students experience disruption of their
education for many reasons, and that they engage in their student’s high school
experience by participating in home-based behaviors such as explicit expectations about
college attendance, talking about the value of a college education, talking about
homework and grades, and taking the student to school commitments. Findings also
suggest that barriers to school-centric engagement include work schedules,
socioeconomic status, and language.
Keywords: Parents/guardians first-generation students, engagement, social capital, ethical
leadership, Best Interest of the Student, cura personalis, Jesuit secondary schools