Jessica Sylvester, faculty member at the University of Phoenix, has authored a new paper that discusses how higher education institutions can create the best learning environments for “sandwich moms,” women who simultaneously care for both children and aging relatives while working.
In her paper, Dr. Sylvester highlights that 59 percent of sandwich moms report that their combined roles have restricted their professional growth. Over half of these women say they have left a job due to caregiving conflicts, while 62 percent say maintaining a career feels like a luxury.
“Engagement is a design problem, not a motivation problem,” said Sylvester. “When institutions build learning around real life — flexible time structures, authentic welcoming, recognition of lived expertise, and thoughtful AI-enabled support — women who are balancing care, work, and learning can persist and succeed without having to choose between family and future.”
Dr. Sylvester outlines several key areas that higher education leaders and policymakers can implement to better serve sandwich moms and other overextended learners. These include supporting asynchronous participation and nonlinear progress, treating belonging as academic infrastructure through cohort models and mentoring networks, expanding modular learning pathways that translate into career mobility, implementing Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) strategies to reduce students’ time-to-completion and cost, and leveraging AI tools to reduce administrative burden.
At the University of Phoenix, Dr. Sylvester currently serves as senior manager of college operations and teaches in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the College of Education, and the College of Business and Information Technology. She is also a research fellow with the university’s Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research.
Dr. Sylvester holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Arizona State University, as well as an MBA and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Phoenix.