Written by Rammohan Khanapurkar (University of Birmingham)
As an international student, one is expected to be an archetypal ‘student’ first and foremost. Theoretically, this means one who hunkers down at the desk, diligent with their studies and timelines, while living in student accommodation or modest housing, and adjusting on a modest budget. The nomenclature of international students comes across as a mononym encompassing all types of studies and students across various career streams and spectrums. This construct hovers as a subtext while navigating subjective situations that require one to transcend student-ness and attend to other material needs of the body, mind, and self. This transcendence enters an even more complicated realm after entering parenthood while studying full-time as an international student. This situation differs to some extent from international students who are already parents, despite some common challenges.
As an international student pursuing a PhD, I strive to balance the paternal responsibilities for my newborn with rigorous academic work. In this article, I outline the broad thematic contours of an ‘international-student-parent’, where all three words intersect with their semantics yet remain under-analysed at a policy level. Nonetheless, it remains an everyday reality for those who experience it. The article particularly draws attention to the under-explored phenomenon of paternal care among international students.
Though ‘international students’ are ossified as a homogenous group, they carry diversity, not just sociocultural, but in circumstances ranging from finances to intrinsic and extrinsic capacities of personal wellbeing. An international student is subject to visa and immigration regulations just like any other non-citizen staying in the UK and around the world. These regulations are pragmatic in their intent, ensuring that a student prioritises studies as their primary activity, while staying within the limits of working hours restrictions; in essence, by maintaining their student status. This also means that their studentship is linked to the Home Office scrutiny, which affects their visa and registration for any absences from studies. The implications of this also indicate that those needing to pause their studies due to urgent and extenuating circumstances need to take a ‘practical call’ based on the peculiarities of their situation. Even in these circumstances, becoming a parent while studying presents its own distinct set of challenges.
As a father of a newborn child while still studying, I was also ‘new’ to parental challenges, especially in the absence of social support from the family in my home country. These challenges range from the micro level of figuring out ways to ‘occupy’ a child during the day to the macro level of managing finances for the family’s upkeep and welfare. The health issues of a newborn can throw every semblance of normalcy out of gear. The demands of research and juggling paternal duties daily cross each other’s paths, with the latter carrying relentless expectations to create order from the ‘messiness’ (at times, literally).
Certainly, beyond the challenges, there are perks to parenthood in raising a child and witnessing their new world unfold through the interplay of innocent indeterminacy and impish certitude. What matters is empathetic support for an ‘international-student-parent’ from their mentors and echelons in the academic setup. I am fortunate to receive excellent empathetic support from my PhD supervisors, whose humane approach helped me to ‘become’ an ‘international-student-parent’ without undue stress. Their inclusive approach, layered with (in)visible support, was key in coping with the demanding exactitude of parenthood while pursuing excellence on the academic horizon.
With regulations surrounding paternity leave (standard two-week leave) and visa complications in pausing studentships, especially for female students, both universities and policies are still grappling to create a supportive ecosystem for international students. There is a willingness within the academic setup to offer support, as reflected in initiatives such as the ESRC MGS DTP’s Parents and Carers Network. More such initiatives elsewhere require both the limelight and critical analysis, as well as an inter-university network for international students. At the same time, more intersectional and cross-country research on this issue can pave the way for an informed policy approach. This approach would still be thumbing the rulebook, but it may offer a page for a realistic understanding of the ‘international-student-parent’.
Author bio
Rammohan Khanapurkar is an ESRC-funded PhD student at the University of Birmingham, UK. His research focuses on the materiality, intergenerationality and spatiotemporal transition of purpose-built rehabilitation geographies for the Partition refugees in India. His broad research interests include understanding materiality from an interdisciplinary perspective in Human Geography, analysing socio-spatial complexities for children and youths by applying indigenous theories from the Global South.
Photo credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/father-and-child-s-hands-together-1250452/