Fathers are important resources for children, with increasing research evidence describing their unique contributions to children’s development. Particularly in underserved communities, fathers can provide critical resources to children y serve as protective factors against risks. Sin embargo, fathers in these communities are also challenged in their involvement due to systemic factors. In the face of such barriers, fathers also describe resilience and commitment to involvement in their children’s lives.

In this research series, we discuss how fathers experience involvement in their children’s lives, and how they describe the factors that support their involved fatherhood.  

Brightpoint conducted community-based participatory research with fathers y will launch a father-led policy agenda informed by the research findings and fathers’ voices and experiences.

Our research series is guided by these questions:

  1. How do Black fathers involve themselves in their children’s education?
  2. How can communities better support father involvement?
  3. How has policy impacting father involvement changed over time?
  4. How have fathers’ voices been incorporated into decision-making for policy and practice?
  5. What are fathers’ priorities for a policy advocacy agenda?

Stronger Together: Cómo los grupos de pares para los padres negros los ayudan a prosperar

Sobre el último 25 años, fathers have significantly increased their participation in support groups focused on fatherhood. What has motivated fathers to seek supportive spaces with other men, and how do these spaces impact how fathers involve themselves in their children’s lives?

What we did:

We asked fathers to describe their experiences receiving support from other fathers through supportive groups.  

What we found:

We found that fatherhood peer support positively impacts paternidad, incluido developing and strengthening their mental health, communication skills, and relational skills. The fathers achieved this growth de sharing their experiences, ownorteing their emotions, feeling motivated, and engaging in self-development.

What it means:

Fathers are actively seeking support and recognition for the role they play in their children’s lives. Fathers are also seeking spaces where they can share their emotional life and receive support around parenting challenges.

Call to Action:

  • Increasing father-friendliness in child and family education sites: Fathers expressed a desire to participate in educational spaces such as classrooms and schools, and a need to feel more welcomed en these spaces
  • Increasing father-child activities to recognize and support relationships: Fathers emphasized the need for more parent-child activities that specifically invite and welcome fathers. Fathers suggested educational activities where fathers and children can learn and play together and where fathers and children can deepen their relationships.
  • Increasing peer-support opportunities for fathers: Fathers described the support of peers in the fatherhood groups as vital to their experience of parenting.

Understanding Black Father Involvement in Education in the Context of Systemic Inequities

Summary

Despite being highly motivated to be involved, fathers described several systemic barriers that they believed restricted their involvement and discussed the various resources that they utilized to overcome these barriers. Educators and policy-makers should acknowledge Black fathers’ unique approaches to involvement as well as the contextual factors that shape their efforts to support their children’s academic success.

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