Dr. Kyle Miller, professor of child development in the School of Teaching and Learning, leads a research initiative and helps support a subsequent family support program in the Bloomington-Normal community, focusing on the needs of fathers.
In 2018, Miller connected with Brightpoint’s (formerly Children’s Home and Aid) Mclean County Fatherhood Coalition and soon thereafter began her research examining fathers’ roles in education. The Coalition is comprised of parents, educators, and community members who work to help fathers feel supported, engaged, and active across all aspects of parenthood. With her child development and research experience, Miller perfectly filled the role of family and education expert.
As Miller met with the group monthly to discuss the needs of fathers, it became clear that data and research would help them determine exactly why fathers were struggling in their role across the community.
“I was hearing about so many problems within our community but couldn’t find anything being done to fix them,” said Miller. “I could hear how much fathers needed support, but we didn’t have an understanding for what that support needed to look like.”
With the assistance of the Coalition, Miller interviewed a diverse group of fathers across Mclean County. The research team met with men in a variety of parenting circumstances, including traditional biological fathers, adoptive fathers, and stepfathers, as well as men who navigated custody battles and co-parenting difficulties. While each of their stories and experiences were unique, patterns in their interviews indicated that fathers severely lacked community-based support and felt undervalued by schools and communities.
As a faculty member in the College of Education (COE), Miller was interested in how the school system fit into the struggles of fathers. Her research indicated that the school and childcare programs regularly excluded fathers.
The men interviewed reported that programs and events targeted at “parents” and “families” were not welcoming to fathers, and attendees were almost exclusively mothers. Difficulties in connecting with other fathers at these events led them to distance themselves from their child’s education.
Since parent programs were not welcoming of fathers, Miller and the rest of the Mclean County Fatherhood Coalition created focus groups for men’s support and education at local libraries. This was a space for men to be vulnerable about parenthood, and to receive resources and emotional support that was unique to their role as fathers.
With the burden of parenthood disproportionately falling on the mother, Miller and Brightpoint continued creating support programs to help fathers take on more responsibility in raising their children.
“Academic research tells us that when fathers help shoulder the parental load it’s incredibly beneficial for the health and satisfaction of the entire family,” said Miller. “Dads think and play differently than moms. Children are shown to have better physical, social, and cognitive development when they regularly engage with their father figures.”
In 2022, Miller continued her research and lead a community assessment alongside Dr. Jordan Arellanes from the Psychology Department and the Mclean County Fatherhood Coalition to see if the schools and businesses across the Bloomington-Normal area were father-friendly. The assessment concluded that schools target all parental outreach to mothers.
“The healthier the family, the more success a child has at school. The fact that the school system still sees moms as the default hinders the development and academic success of students,” said Miller. “Parents play a huge role in keeping a school together, but we are missing out on half of the parent population. Our community assessment shows that K-12 schools still use very traditional family engagement practices with how they expect mothers to support their children’s education instead of their fathers.”
This research is now being integrated into the COE’s Teacher Education curriculum thanks to Miller’s work. Because there is a disparity within the school system, she is addressing how to prepare future educators to be father friendly.
“By breaking down how Teacher Education students traditionally think about engaging with parents, they can be more intentional and inclusive to dads rather than alienate them.”
All teacher education students will be equipped to better serve and engage with all parts of the family by supporting parents – mothers and fathers – alongside their students.
