Listen to Your Fathers: Increasing Father Participation in Early Childhood Programs
A growing body of research shows that fathers’ involvement in their children’s lives influences child welfare, which has motivated policymakers and service providers to encourage father participation in early childhood programs. Early childhood programs may be able to effect the quantity and quality of fathers’ involvement with their children, but traditionally levels of father participation have been low. This paper fills a gap in the research by presenting parents’ perspectives on father participation in early childhood programs, using data collected as part of an ongoing evaluation of evidence-based home visiting programs across Texas. We address the following research questions: 1) How do parents understand their parenting and co-parenting roles; 2) What are the perceived benefits of program participation; 3) How do fathers currently participate in home visiting programs; 4) What are the barriers to father participation; and 5) What strategies may be successful for increasing father participation?
Method
The paper uses a mixed-methods approach to analyze data collected from fathers and mothers whose families are enrolled in evidence-based home visiting programs. Qualitative data was collected through 7 focus groups with 40 fathers and father figures, and qualitative and quantitative was collected from 212 mothers using a survey. An inductive approach was used to identify themes from the focus group and qualitative survey data, using an iterative approach in which multiple researchers coded data in MAXQDA. Regression analysis was used to analyze the quantitative data from the survey of mothers.
Results
Many fathers identified distinct gendered parenting roles where mothers are responsible for parenting tasks, including caring and nurturing, that they associate with their family’s program participation, and fathers are responsible for financially providing and discipline. Parents reported that they enrolled in the program for their child’s benefit, and that mothers are the primary parent participating in the program.
The majority of mothers would like their child’s father to participate in the program some of the time, but mothers who are not in a relationship with their child’s father do not want him to participate. Many mothers reported that their child’s father asks questions about the program, and practices program lessons with their child. Married and unmarried cohabiting parents identified that the main barrier to fathers’ participation is their work schedules, whereas mothers who are not in a relationship with their child’s father reported that relationship issues are the main barrier. Parents identified flexible scheduling as the best approach to increase father participation, and also suggested that programs conduct more direct outreach to fathers.
Conclusions and Implications
Analyses of data collected from parents show that strategies for increasing father participation must reflect parents’ perceptions of their parenting roles. Effective strategies may include adapting curriculum to address parenting practices that resonate with fathers, as well as helping parents understand the benefits of other types of father involvement for their child. There may be different strategies that are effective for engaging romantically involved resident fathers and non-romantic non-resident fathers, based on the distinct barriers to father participation for these families.