Students in the U.S. are heading back to school or soon will be.
The unemployment rate for women has reverted to pre-pandemic levels, but layoffs and temporary freezes are once again threatening to push women out of the workforce. Additionally, whether employers will continue to allow remote work— a critical benefit due to the national child care shortage— will greatly affect many working mothers.
Those concerned about their careers or those exploring new opportunities are searching for resources to build their network and develop new professional skills. As working parents of school-age children ramp up for a new school year, one unexpected place to find such resources just might be at their child’s school, with the parent-teacher association (PTA).
National PTA is the oldest and largest child advocacy association in America, comprised of 3.4 million parents, teachers, grandparents, caregivers, foster parents, and other adults. Nationally, the PTA serves 13.8 million students and over 769,000 teachers. With the size of the network and members having access to mentors, 501(c)(3) nonprofit financial training, and leadership development through webinars and e-learning courses, it could arguably rival any online course or professional development organization. National PTA President Anna King explains how skills gained through PTA participation are highly valuable in professional capacities:
“PTA members meet and connect with others at the national, state, and local levels; hear and learn from experts in leadership and a wide variety of other areas; participate in training, webinars, and workshops; serve in leadership positions, and sit at the table with decisionmakers and key officials.”
Jocelyn Bermudez, a business owner and mother in South Carolina, served as president of her child’s PTA for over seven years. She believes volunteering for the PTA helped her career tremendously, allowing her to be in a leadership role and gain experience coordinating volunteers to help execute goals and initiatives.
“While I never intended on using my PTA connections to network or grow my business, it has given me visibility in the community. Former board members and parents often reach out to me and give business referrals.”
Bermudez adds that as a PTA president, she was often required to creatively think outside of the box to grow the organization, inspire and motivate volunteers, and stretch limited resources.
“Effective PTAs are run like businesses. There are budgets, goals, people, processes, and a vision and mission to execute. In many ways, running a parent-teacher organization is even harder than running a business because you are reliant on volunteers.”
Working mothers can also learn in-demand soft skills as a member of the PTA. Soft skills, or interpersonal, non-technical skills, include teamwork, dependability, problem-solving, communication, and accountability. According to author and therapist Danielle Matthew, empathy, empowerment, and engagement can be added to that list. “Empathy is used to ask what is needed rather than making assumptions, empowerment is working together to create solutions, and engagement is following through with the plan of action.”
While working parents may feel like a challenge to spend their free time volunteering at school or getting involved in the PTA, there are many benefits to being involved. However, it’s important to note that there is a national shortage of educators. According to the National Education Association, 55% of teachers are considering leaving the profession early. Therefore, while the PTA can provide great opportunities to network and build leadership and professional skills that can be resume builders, its primary intention is to make a difference for students, families, and schools.
Those interested in forming a relationship with teachers and the PTA should be sensitive to the current environment. Dr. Eve Goldstein is a teacher trainer and director of Westchester Child Therapy in Scarsdale, New York, and Calabasas Child and Adolescent Psychology in Calabasas, California. Dr. Goldstein says parent support of teachers is an essential building block for helping schools thrive.
“In today’s school environment, it is important to acknowledge that we ask so much of our educators. This is a multi-faceted problem. However, proactive and communicative relationships between parents and teachers positively impact the school environment.”
The PTA allows working mothers to develop new professional skills and build relationships. In the workplace, relationship-building skills are essential for getting along with coworkers, contributing to a team, and creating an understanding between yourself and others. It turns out that those skills are not only just as critical at a child’s school, but working moms can also learn them there.
