Colleges and universities face mounting pressure to demonstrate their value in the face of high tuition costs, mounting student debt, the rise of affordable short-term credentials and online certificates, and lackluster college completion rates (Brink, 2022; Brown, 2018; Fain, 2020; NCES, 2021a). A major reason why people attend college is for career preparation and better career prospects; however, whether students are getting the skills they need to succeed in the workplace and pursue a fulfilling career path remains a top concern among graduates and the American public alike (Brown; Eagan et al., 2015; Pew Research Center, 2016; Stolzenberg et al., 2020).
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Creating an Academic Culture of Working to Live
I’m often asked how I succeed at managing work-life balance—or as I call it, “life-work balance”— and it stems from my childhood. My parents both worked as educators, and