This section will provide insight into the family support structure for the students in relation to their college education and success. The level of family support and engagement can be an important predictor of success. There are 3 variables in the survey, which indicate the levels of support from the mother and father, as well as other key family members.
Analysis of selected family support questions
This section investigates the students' perception of the significance of family support on their educational success. There are three variables in this section,
which investigate the relation of the students' perception of their family members' support in relation to their educational success.
The questions are:
• Q1: "To what degree does your mother encourage/support education and learning?"
• Q2: "To what degree does your father encourage/support education and learning?"
• Q3: "To what degree do/did other adult members of your family
(grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc) encourage/support education and learning?"
Analysis of mother’s degree of encouragement and support for education
Although not statistically significant, more Hawaiians who indicated they received some or a lot of support, were successful (20 out of 31) compared to those who indicated that they were discouraged or received no or little support (7 our of 10). For Non-Hawaiians, their perception of their mother's encouragement or support for education is statistically significant (42 out of 53) compared to Non-Hawaiians who indicated that their mothers discouraged or provided no or little support (4 out of 11).
Table 5.13: Influence of mother’s support on student success
Hawaiians, per cent, (n) Non Hawaiians, per cent, (n)
Discouraged, no or little
support Some/lot of support
Discouraged, no or little
support Some/lot of support
Successful 70.0 (7) 64.5 (20) 36.4 (4) 79.2 (42) Non-Successful 30.0 (3) 35.5 (11) 63.6 (7) 20.8 (11) N 41 64 Chi-Square 0.101 8.286 Sig n.s. 0.004
Analysis of father’s encouragement and support for education
Similar to the responses about their mother’s encouragement and support, the influence of fathers on student success for respondents to this survey was not statistically significant. Among Hawaiians who indicated they received some or a lot of support from their fathers, two-thirds were successful (21 out of 32). More Hawaiians who perceive that their fathers discouraged or provided no or little support were successful (7 out of 11). Similarly, for Non-Hawaiians, the majority
who indicated that their father provided some or a lot of support for education and learning were successful (41 our of 53). For those Non-Hawaiians who felt their father discouraged or provided little or no support were slightly more successful (6 our of 11). For both successful and non-successful Hawaiians and non- Hawaiians, their father’s encouragement and support for the education was not statistically significant.
Table 5.14: Influence of father’s support on student success
Hawaiians, per cent, (n) Non Hawaiians, per cent, (n)
Discouraged, no or little
support Some/lot of support
Discouraged, no or little
support Some/lot of support
Successful 63.6 (7) 65.6 (21) 54.5 (6) 77.4 (41) Non-Successful 36.4 (4) 34.4 (11) 45.5 (5) 22.6 (12) N 43 64 Chi-Square 0.014 2.430 Sig n.s. n.s.
Analysis of other adult family member’s encouragement and support for education
Similar to previous results, Hawaiians who indicated that they receive some or a lot of support from other family members are more successful (20 out of 33). Those Hawaiians who indicated that they are discouraged or receive little or no support from other family members for education and learning are more successful than not (8 out of 11). Hawaiian respondents, overall, were successful, regardless of their family members level of support for their education and learning. For Non-Hawaiian respondents, however, their family members encouragement and support is a predictor of their success and statistically significant. The majority of those Non-Hawaiians who indicated they received some or a lot of support for their education and learning from family members were successful (38 out of 48). The majority of Non-Hawaiians who indicated they are discouraged or received no or little support are also successful (10 out of 18).
Table 5.15: Influence of other family support on student success
Hawaiians, per cent, (n) Non Hawaiians, per cent, (n)
Discouraged, no or little
support Some/lot of support
Discouraged, no or little
support Some/lot of support
Successful 72.7 (8) 60.6 (20) 55.6 (10) 79.2 (38) Non-Successful 27.3 (3) 39.4 (13) 44.4 (8) 20.8 (10) N 44 66 Chi-Square 0.524 3.679 Sig n.s. 0.055 Key findings
That’s huge, it’s huge. That’s critical, I think that’s really critical. It makes the college experience a lot better, less stressful. You aren’t doing it by yourself. You have people behind you.
Although Native Hawaiian respondents tend to be successful whether or not they receive encouragement and support from their mothers, fathers or other key members of their families, they continue to lag behind their peers. Non- Hawaiians who receive encouragement and support from their mothers or family members are more successful in college. The support from the fathers of Non- Hawaiians is not significant to their success.
The lack of significance of the importance of parental and family support in Native Hawaiian families for the education of their students in this study could reflect a number of contributing factors. One factor is the high number of single mother households with school-age children in Hawaiʻi, which has risen among all ethnic groups between 2003 and 2009. In 2009, among Native Hawaiian families, 28.4% are single-mother family households with school-age children compared to the State of Hawaiʻi average of 22.7% (Kamehameha Schools, 2014, p. 81).
A second factor is the overall lack of educational attainment for Native Hawaiians. In 2009, 14.3% of Native Hawaiians age twenty-five and older had attached a bachelor’s degree or higher, the lowest of all the major ethnic groups in Hawaiʻi, compared to 29.5% of Hawaiʻi’s overall population. Non-Hispanic
Whites had the highest percentage at 41.7%, Japanese were 34.6%, Chinese were 31.3% and Filipino’s were 18.7% (ibid. p. 251).
“Since mothers tend to be the primary caregivers in the home-spending more time alone with children in qualitatively different roles than those of fathers or other males in the household-the mother’s level of education is a critical indicator predicting a child’s later academic success.)
(Roska & Potter 2011 in Kamehameha Schools, 2014, p. 164).
Unfortunately, only 19% of Native Hawaiian mothers with school-age children have attained a bachelor’s degree in 2010 compared to the statewide average of 28.4%, and lower than all other major ethnic groups in Hawaiʻi. (ibid, p. 165)
For me, that is my lifeline, my family. After I had my son, it became even more of my lifeline. When you are young and free to your own device, your parents are not going to hold you back, at least my parents never held me back from going with people or learning from people. They would always come to my hōʻike29 and they would come to see. They may not have seen the day-to-day activities but they are usually there for my hōʻike, They may not come for whatever reason but they were always there to see the outcome and to see whatever it is that I do. It’s especially important for young women, and if you have a keiki it adds a whole other level of complexity to your life and it’s not just about yourself. All of a sudden you have somebody else to be concerned about and their well- being just as well as yourself, so for me, in order for me to have done a lot of these trips or huakaʻi and all these different experiences, I couldn’t have done it without my family. So my family is my ʻiwikuamoʻo, they are the backbone to my education. Some people can get there without that, you can do it, but for me, as a Hawaiian, it was important to have my family and they were always supportive of what I did.
Another student stated:
And then there are cases when the family doesn’t support. They don’t have a license or a car and the parents don’t want to drive them, it’s like a burden and they don’t want to bug their parents and at the same time, it might be raining and you have to catch the bus, you loose your motivation.