Studying is one of the best ways to improve or change your life direction as it can open a whole new range of doors.
Many women stop working or change careers sometime over the period of raising their kids and if you are anything like me you may have considered studying … but it can be a bit daunting! We recently asked our amazing school mums for any tips they had for juggling being a mum with study and they gave us some great advice.
Here is what they said:
Choose the right course
One of the key things that our ‘study mums’ pointed out was that unless you really love what you are studying, then it’s hard to prioritise the work… so it’s really important to choose something that you are passionate about. Spend some extra time asking other students, talking to people in the industry and really thinking about what you will enjoy studying.
Is it marketing, business administration, human resources management… or do you want to turn an old degree into a new teaching career? Once you know what you really want to do it’s a lot easier to make the commitment and succeed.
Don’t forget to check that the employment prospects are also good in the future because most people study to use what they learn in their work.
Choose the right University or Organisation
These days there are so many options available to students and some will suit your situation better than others. A lot more study is done online now and that means students can be more flexible to balance their other family and life commitments. Our mums suggested asking some questions about how many subjects are required at once, how much do you have to be on-campus vs online, whether the university has many other mums or part-time students etc.
For example Charles Sturt University (CSU) have developed a range of courses that are flexible to the needs of Aussie mums. They have considered what will really help… such as:
- Learning at your pace – you can study at your own pace, anywhere, anytime through online learning
- Flexible study options – study online anywhere in Australia or at one of their 12 study locations across New South Wales and Victoria.
- Chose subjects when it suits – flexibility and changing the number of subjects based on time availability is important
- Support services – a wealth of support services which assist with reducing the impact on a Mum’s family
- Affordable – courses are FEE-HELP approved meaning that you can study now and pay later using the government’s support scheme.
Start slow and keep up!
One of the recurring themes was not biting off more than you can chew… especially early on. Many courses allow you to do just one or two subjects and that will let you test the waters to make sure you are happy, can cope and are not too overloaded. The early subjects are often quite foundational too so even if you decide that you have selected the wrong course after a while you can probably switch and take the credit with you.
Like we tell our kids (haha), it is important to keep up with the work or it all gets too much and then we tend to avoid it even more until we don’t succeed. Many people mentioned the importance of this… being a little organised and doing things early to avoid the stress.
Check the cost
Even with government assistance and deferred fees there will always be a cost at some point so many mums suggested exploring that and making sure that you are happy with the price and the timing of payments. Many courses cost nothing up-front but watch out for the less reputable deals that can be around with unbelievable bonuses etc.
Speak to Centrelink too about any effect it might have on your payments from them. Sometimes there are benefits while you study too.
Make sure you have good support
This was seriously one of the most common pieces of advice … having a great support network is what many mums say makes the difference. It’s not that you can’t try and succeed all on your own but it is going to be so much easier if you know you have supportive family and friends who can help when things need to happen all at the same time. Some mums mentioned planning for partners to help more around assignment times or having extra baby-sitting options when things are busy.
Some unis have child-care and support services too…
So thanks ‘study mums’ for all of your great ideas… You can read the full post with heaps of comments on our page and check out some of the awesome offerings from the mum friendly Charles Sturt University (CSU) here.
