Featured Guest Blogger August 10th, 2009
Charlene DeCesare is a freelance Life Balance Strategist and the Senior Director of Tuition Programs at College Coach, a division of Bright Horizons Family Solutions.
Studies have shown that a large majority of working adults do not complete degrees within six years, while many don’t finish at all. At first blush, this may seem unbelievable, but given the challenges of juggling work, family and education, it really shouldn’t be surprising.
Many years ago, I decided to pursue my MBA using my employer’s tuition assistance program. At first it seemed that navigating the process around this “benefit” might actually require an MBA! However, I figured it all out eventually. Accepted by my school of choice and approved by my manager, I started classes.
As luck would have it, my second semester gave way to my first trimester…of pregnancy. The challenge of balancing work and life (literally) grew exponentially. Childcare was an issue both day and night, depending on my husband’s schedule as well as my own. Business travel sometimes meant missing classes in addition to missing my family. Lactation arrangements were now needed at work, on the road, and at school. As each semester came and went, I made difficult choices in order to feel successful as a mom, an employee, and when I could fit it in, a student. Nine years, a new job and two more children later, I finally completed my degree.
Today, working adult learners face similar challenges of managing work, family, and school. Furthermore, each area’s demands are compounded and mirrored against the next. As if the process wasn’t convoluted enough for me when I attended graduate school, the educational landscape is even more complex today. Whereas aspiring students once had to compete for acceptance into college, many schools are now competing for students –- especially the working adult demographic. Because of this, the availability and diversity of distance learning options is growing at a rapid rate. Yet, aggressive marketing is no longer limited to online for-profit institutions. More and more “traditional” schools are launching programs specifically targeted to employees. All of this makes the decision making process much more complicated and potentially very time consuming. As we know, time is the most precious commodity for those of us trying to “do it all.”
In addition, employees must have awkward conversations with managers who are conflicted between meeting budget goals and helping employees meet their personal and education goals. To compound the problem, many employers still have policies and processes that are overly difficult to navigate for the employee and equally difficult for the organization to administer. This can actually create a perceived disincentive to participate.
In the United States, 85% of companies offer some sort of tuition assistance program. There is no question that the benefit is offered with good intentions. However, the goal for the more forward-thinking employer is to build that bridge between what they intend and what employees actually experience. This includes creating a culture that encourages education and work/life balance while also providing support at the individual level.
Support is not only about funding. It’s about providing resources during the decision-making process and throughout the educational journey as the inevitable issues arise. This kind of support not only increases the likelihood that our working adult learners will complete degrees, but that they will stay with the employer who funded that educational journey. That’s a true benefit for all involved.
