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New analysis by Dr. Jessica Sylvester calls on institutions to build life-aligned learning models that reduce cognitive load, strengthen belonging, and expand opportunity for “sandwich generation” moms

������Ƶ College of Doctoral Studies announced the publication of “Engaging the Overextended: Designing Higher Education for Women Balancing Care, Work, and Learning,” a new white paper by Jessica Sylvester, Ed.D., MBA, Senior Manager of College Operations and associate faculty member at the University, and a research fellow with the University’s Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research (CEITR). The paper examines how traditional higher education structures often assume uninterrupted time and predictable availability—conditions that don’t match the lived reality of women managing caregiving, employment and education simultaneously.  

Drawing on findings from the 2025 ������Ƶ Career Optimism Special Report™ Series: Moms in the Sandwich Generation and related research, Sylvester connects workforce pressures to higher education engagement and persistence. The white paper highlights that 59% of sandwich-generation moms report their combined roles have restricted professional growth, 51% have left a job due to caregiving conflicts, and 62% say maintaining a career feels like a luxury—constraints that shape whether learners can start, continue, or return to school.

“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.”

White paper focus: life-aligned design for modern adult learners

The paper outlines practical, thoughtful approaches higher education leaders and policymakers can implement to better serve overextended learners, including:

• Reimagining time and engagement structures to support asynchronous participation and nonlinear progress 

• Treating belonging as academic infrastructure through cohort models, mentoring networks and relational teaching practices

• Expanding stackable and modular learning pathways that translate into career mobility in real time

• Recognizing experiential learning through Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) as tool for parity that reduces time-to-completion and cost

• Using AI thoughtfully to expand capacity, including re-entry supports, just-in-time help and reduced administrative burden.

The full white paper is available on the ������Ƶ Career Institute® webpage or on the Research Hub.

About the author

Sylvester is a higher-education leader with more than 18 years of experience and Senior Manager of College Operations at University of Phoenix. She also serves as an associate faculty member with the ������Ƶ College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Education, and College of Business and Information Technology, and is a research fellow with the University’s Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research (CEITR), focusing on how emerging technologies—including AI—shape learning, skill demands and student experience. Sylvester earned her Doctor of Education specializing in Higher Education Administration, and a Master of Business Administration at University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor of Social Work at Arizona State University.

About ������Ƶ

������Ƶ innovates to help working adults enhance their careers and develop skills in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, skills-mapped curriculum for our bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and a Career Services for Life® commitment help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit  phoenix.edu/blog.html.