This chapter rounds up the results of an online community wide survey done in the UK about parenting perceptions and stereotypes among the UK parents of various ethnicities. The online survey went through Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) (HREC/4832/Bhandari) and related clearances. The key objective of this survey was to hear the community voice of parents from various ethnicities who are happy to share their own parenting experiences and explore their understanding of South Asian parenting. Although the online survey was opened for a brief period of about 2 months in summer, about 65 parents across the UK participated in this survey. The widely held notion that South Asian parents value academic achievement came across clearly in the survey. Some stereotypes like South Asian parents are strict disciplinarians, treat their sons differently from their daughters, are aggressive and vocal in schools and academic settings were not widely held by the UK community of participating parents.
TopIntroduction
The quest for equality and inclusion in the UK has led to a significant interest in understanding the dynamics of its diverse population. In this context, the perceptions of South Asian parents within the broader UK community are particularly noteworthy. A comprehensive online research survey conducted in 2023 aimed to capture the prevailing views and determine if stereotypes about South Asian parents still persist in modern-day UK society. The findings of this survey are crucial as they can inform policy decisions, guide community support programs, and foster a more inclusive environment where diversity is not just acknowledged but celebrated. This chapter will delve into the methodology, results, and implications of the survey, providing a nuanced picture of the South Asian parental archetype in the 21st-century UK landscape.
Survey Ethical Approvals
To understand parenting of South Asian parents, it was important to understand not only the perspective of parenting from the South Asian side however, but it was also important to draw on what the UK community of parents thinks about South Asian parenting styles. Although majority of the interviews and survey participants were approached through the social media, networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and closed groups of South Asian communities, ethical approval was sought from the Open University’s Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) (HREC/4832/Bhandari). To capture the “community voice” about stereotypes in the existing UK population a community survey was opened for all UK parents’ country wide. The Open University (OU) staff were also invited to this survey as part of the community survey and parent volunteers of South Asian heritage were sought through the Open University community posts. The ethical issues involving staff participants in the Open University were addressed strictly and the researcher gained the Staff Survey Project Panel (SSPP) approval (Ref-417) before the start of the data collection. The project went through a rigorous ethical approval through the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) and was registered on the Open University’s Information Asset Register (IAR) Within the Open University, the project approval from HREC provides a mechanism for assuring the ethical integrity of research carried out by OU academic staff an ethics review by HREC is required for research projects which involve the collection of data or biological samples from human participants. Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) (Ref-679-2023) for this project was done through DPIA screening questions that intend to identify if how processing of personal data will result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of the data subjects. All participants were provided with a project information sheet covering details about the project, right to withdraw, confidentiality, risks involved, who have been invited to the participate in the study and why, how the findings of the study will be used. In the Informed consent sheet, given to all participants to seek their consent there was a clear indication of confidentially, right to withdraw, how interview data will be stored and voluntary participation without any prejudice or negative consequence was indicated.
A multiple-choice survey titled “Parenting and My perceptions “was set up comprising of 19 questions in all (Appendix 3) . All questions from 2-18 were multiple choice and only question 19 was an open-ended question. Question 1 was embedded consent for all participants before they start the survey. Question 19 asked the participants to capture any other comments about South Asian parenting that they may have missed. A short survey was set up through MS form online and all parents UK wide were asked to participate in this survey. The survey took about 10-15 mins of the individual participant’s time, and each participant could submit only one response. This survey opened in May 2023- August 2023.No identities, personal, critical information were obtained, and data was stored safely anonymously with the researcher only access. The data was used strictly for academic purposes.
Survey Design
There were three clear sections in the online community survey.
Question 1- embedded consent to participate in the study.
Section 1-(Q2-Q4) captured the demographics of the participants in terms of age range, parenting responsibility and ethnicity of the participants.
Section 2-(Q5-Q9) captured the parenting perceptions of UK parents and their parenting experiences.
Section 3-(Q10-Q18) captured the stereotypes and attitudes towards parents of South Asian heritage.
Question19- Open ended question about any aspect of South Asian parenting participants wanted to share.