According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), approximately 22% of students in U.S. community colleges and public four-year universities are parenting at least one dependent under 18 years old. This is a significant number of students whose lives have been extraordinarily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered schools and daycares across the country, making student parents responsible for the full-time caretaking and education of their children–on top of their own educational pursuits. How, then, are faculty to respond to these new realities in ways that are equitable within this new virtual learning environment?
