Conflicts between work and life are common for working parents. These difficulties frequently manifest as shifting work schedules, breaks in careers, and a lack of consistent career growth. A recent survey by a leading women-specific career portal revealed that 51% of working mothers felt like quitting their jobs during COVID due to the pressure of juggling work and home chores. Professionals who are also parents do not have to sacrifice their goals or careers to fulfil their obligations at home and work. You may feel the need to upskill to get ahead in your career but lack time to attend a full-time course at an institution. However, that does not mean putting a stop to learning. Instead, working parents can opt for a distance learning course and manage work parallelly.
The development of online technology has caused significant changes in education. With the introduction of distance learning programs, working parents can access course materials and lectures and consult professors online from the comfort of their homes or workspaces. This learner-centred instruction program helps individuals carry out other responsibilities simultaneously. Here are a few reasons working parents must opt for distance learning courses.
1. Upskilling Without Sacrificing Your Family Life
Nearly 50% of respondents to an International Labour Organization (ILO) survey agreed that the pandemic negatively impacted their careers. These individuals are either jobless, between jobs, or looking for better opportunities. They need skills relevant to a post-pandemic world to stay ahead of the competitive job search scenario — for instance, the ability to handle advanced technology in their daily tasks or routines. A distance learning MBA can help one upskill on the job without compromising their career aspirations or personal time.
2. Time Flexibility
Unlike traditional classroom scenarios, distance learning does not impose specific lecture timings or has a schedule that is convenient for working professionals. Such a scenario is also ideal for working parents, as attending classes and specific times might be challenging for most. For instance, they might decide to study harder before the exams or at night when they tick off all their duties as a parent. These lectures are available for viewing at your convenience, and you can finish all the assignments whenever you have the time and turn them in within the deadlines.
The flexibility of distance learning courses is one of the most important factors that attract working mothers, too. It helps them pursue their preferred courses at their own pace. For instance, even if working mothers are free, they might not want to study or attend a lecture regularly. With distance learning, they can follow them whenever they wish to.
3. Developing a Growth Mindset
From the womb to the grave, learning is a lifelong process. To stay in the race, one needs to ensure they are skilled to move with the rapidly changing times, work expectations and, more recently, technological advancements. Parents who want to study further must juggle work and family responsibilities, so they can always rely on the learning opportunities provided by short-term and distance programs.
4. Matches Your Pace
As a parent, one is overseeing a team at work in addition to family responsibilities, submitting reports, and meeting deadlines. Multitasking is the forte of most working parents, and distance learning can help them achieve this more seamlessly. With the help of distance education, working parents can attend recorded lectures on their selected courses across specialisations like HRM, business management, and more. Whether the objective is to increase one’s knowledge, improve one’s skills, or become an expert in a different field, a range of subjects are there to pick from. One is free to complete and succeed in a selected specialisation at their own speed.
5. No Peer Pressure or Competition
It might be challenging for working professionals to adjust to a highly competitive environment after a break in their studies. While the age difference in a campus set-up could cause alienation among working parents, it can also cause added peer pressure. Distance education offers an assessment process that is thought through for working professionals.
Conclusion
While distance learning has several benefits for working parents, selecting the best institute might be challenging. One must opt for a course & university based on reviews. NMIMS Global offers a range of distance education management courses specially curated for working parents aspiring to climb the ladder or set up their ventures. With more than 140 knowledgeable instructors from IIMs and IITs, one can expect a well-rounded education that combines theory with application-based learning. Apart from having live and recorded lectures, these courses also have an affordable fee structure with flexible payment schemes. Thus, the institute has taken into account parenting responsibilities and career options under the same roof through its distance learning courses in Banking and Finance, International Trade Management, Marketing Management, and more.
