Degrees that Appeal to Many Working Moms

Being a working mom can be a delicate balance. Of course, technology helps make life easier all the time. For example, you can earn bachelor’s, master’s, and even doctoral degrees mostly or entirely online. Moreover, online degrees are available in many fields, so here’s a look at a few that appeal to working moms.

Library Science

Depending on your age, you may associate libraries with dusty books and adults severely whispering, “Shhh!” Many, if not most, libraries nowadays are modern, with robust ebook catalogs, programs that welcome community members inside, and librarians who are tech-savvy. With a library science degree, you can become one of them.

Jobs for library science graduates aren’t limited to community libraries, either. You may end up working as a wine librarian, special collections librarian, business researcher, or in one of many other jobs.

Education/Teaching

A degree that lets you teach is a really popular one among working moms. For one thing, your work hours closely track the hours your children are in school. When they’re out of school and off for the summer, you probably are too. Teaching can be a demanding job, though, with burnout common in the first year. Many men and women do make it work; a good support system professionally and personally does wonders.

Accounting

If you love numbers, you’re in luck. Accounting jobs can be great for working moms because, for one thing, they are plentiful. If you prefer to work part-time or seasonally, you can find positions. Ditto with full-time. In fact, it is relatively easy and inexpensive to open your own accounting business and work from home. If you have a spouse who provides paycheck stability and health insurance, you minimize even further the risks of being your own boss.

Communications

Communications degrees on the bachelor’s level tend to be general. On the master’s level, you can specialize in areas such as law, journalism advertising, or film. Whether you earn a bachelor’s or a master’s, though, communications is such a broad field, and you can pick from companies and jobs that offer good benefits, salaries, and work-life balances.

Business

Some of the best entrepreneurs out there are working moms. In fact, many became entrepreneurs because they were moms. Some business degrees can help you pursue your dreams of entrepreneurship or owning your own business, be it an accounting firm, jewelry-making business, tech startup, or something else. Even better, business degrees are available at all levels from associate to doctoral, so there’s something for you no matter your background. Pursue even more specialized areas such as finance, marketing, real estate, business communications, or international business, if you want.

Creative Writing

Depending on your goals, a creative writing degree may not be the most practical. However, now is one of the best times, if not the best, to be a writer. You no longer need to go through repeated rejections from publishers to get your book published; independent authors succeed every day. And you certainly can try with publishers, as plenty of moms get recognition for their writing chops this way.

One thing to keep in mind is that creative writing degrees can be a bit pricey when you’re evaluating the potential return. So, if you’ll be in dire financial straits if you pursue this degree and don’t make it big, looking elsewhere may be a good idea. Or you could start a blog and give that creative outlet a try. On the other hand, if you itch for a creative outlet and self-improvement, and would be happy getting this degree no matter what, it could be a great move.

Many women also enjoy working for biotech and pharmaceutical companies because of the benefits and work-life balance. Your best options are by no means limited to the degrees above.

What career options are you pursuing?

 

This is a contribution in collaboration with Valued Voice that has been edited to align with the values of this blog.