The Myth of Having it All (All at Once)

Morning Breakout Session II

For many women working in higher education, the idea of “having it all” can feel both motivating and exhausting. Across roles, institutions, and career stages, women often navigate persistent expectations to be fully engaged, responsive, and ambitious in their professional lives while also managing full and meaningful lives beyond campus. This interactive discussion challenges the myth that balance means doing everything at once, and instead invites participants to consider balance as a set of intentional choices that evolve across different seasons of life and career.

Facilitated by two senior leaders from Colby-Sawyer College, the session creates space for honest reflection and shared dialogue about ambition, tradeoffs, guilt, and evolving definitions of success. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, the conversation centers on lived experience, peer learning, and reframing balance as dynamic rather than fixed. Participants will explore how internal and institutional expectations influence decision-making, and how permission to prioritize differently can be an act of sustainability rather than failure.

Through guided prompts, small-group discussion, and whole-group reflection, attendees will engage questions such as: How has your definition of balance changed over time? Where do you feel pressure to “have it all,” and from whom? What does sustainable ambition look like at this point in your career? The session also considers how modeling intentional choices can support healthier cultures across higher education.