A Women’s Agenda reader recently asked if it was possible to juggle children and an MBA. As I have been there and done that, I thought my experience might help you to see how it’s possible. It took me seven years to complete the degree due to the juggle of a full career and young family.
When I started my executive MBA my son was two years old and I was in the middle of my first magazine launch. It wasn’t the ideal time to start a post-graduate degree but it was something that I felt I needed to do. It was a minimum three-year, maximum seven-year course.
YEAR 1: I worked full-time and attended classes two nights per week to complete the first year of the course in a year. It was hard going. On my uni days I would go directly there from work, without seeing my child. I would phone him on the way so he could hear my voice (and I could hear his). Looking back it was fortunate that he was a terrible sleeper as he was always awake when I got home at around 9.30pm. I would spend the next hour reading books and cuddling my son to sleep.
On the non-university evenings I would study for the three hours between when my son went to sleep and my husband’s return from work at 1am.
It was non-stop but I had help from my father who lived with us three days per week so I could do all of this relatively seamlessly.
Report card, end of year 1:
I passed all of my first year subjects and received distinctions for half of them. My son celebrated his third birthday a happy and healthy little boy.
The magazine that I launched, Australian Good Taste, was a success.
Marriage still going strong.
YEAR 2: I discovered I was pregnant with my second child before first semester began. I thought it was serendipity with regard to my studies. My son was due in August and I thought maternity leave would give me more time for my studies. I enrolled in my second year courses and slipped back into the same rhythm that had worked the year before. Within weeks I was too exhausted to study in the middle of the night. I had entered the second trimester of my pregnancy. Rather than push through and just barely pass I decided to defer until the second semester. I was doing the course to learn, not just qualify. By the time second semester rolled around I couldn’t contemplate study.
Report card, end of year 2:
Studies deferred.
Oldest son turned 4, still a difficult sleeper.
Second child born, sleeps through the night after three months.
Marriage still strong, albeit exhausted with work and parenting.
YEAR 3: Study? Forget about it. My oldest son had started school and the juggle was proving tough.
YEARS 4&5: I was determined to finish what I started and I was running out of years to do so, given that the degree had to be completed within seven years. I decided to give myself a break and pace the second year subjects across a couple of years. This proved to be a sensible decision as I only had one night per week at university. There was an option to do a couple of the courses online, which I also pursued.
YEAR 6: I was given a major promotion at work that involved a larger at-work commitment with regard to hours. I had no choice but to defer the final year which I had been warned would be time-intensive.
YEAR 7: It was now or never. I had been struggling with the juggle of work and young children so I knew I couldn’t do it all. I made the decision to walk away from my job (but not my career). I immediately took on a consultancy role that would allow me to work part of the week and study the rest of the time. The flexibility of the consultancy also meant that I could move my work days to accommodate the intensive residentials that were a compulsory part of the final year. When I had to be away from my children for a few days at a time my parents would move in and keep my family and home running smoothly.
Report card, end of final year:
MBA qualified
2 happy children
1 marriage intact.
Career still on track but operating at a slower pace.
What were the key learnings from this experience?
- You can complete MBA studies with a young family and a career.
- Find out the maximum time you can take to complete the course. Then pace yourself. It’s better to take longer and do well.
- If you can’t fit an MBA in with your full-time career commitment then consider converting to part-time until your studies are complete.
- You can only do all of this and retain your sanity if you have a supportive partner. Even better if you also have the support of your broader family network.
- If you have a young family then you will need to arrange extra help with their care.
- Understand that it will be a tough few years but it will be worth it.