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Dr. Jill Biden loves her job as a professor at Northern Virginia Community College so much that she didn’t give up her career when her husband, Joe Biden, was elected president. That often means she’s doing double duty at the White House and in the classroom and it allows her to share a crucial message for women about education and finances that could prove to be vital down the line.
The first lady believes that women should have some type of independence in all aspects of their lives for a good reason: life throws us lots of unexpected challenges. “You never know where this life is going to take you,” she explained to Women’s Health while subtly referencing the death of her son, Beau Biden, to brain cancer in 2015. She witnessed his wife, Hallie Biden, picking up the pieces and carrying the family emotionally and financially during a very grief-stricken time.
That’s why her job as a teacher is so important to her. Jill loves mentoring young women in her classroom because she sees education as the key tool for empowering them. It might be why she’s changing the game when it comes to keeping an outside job while living in the White House — she’s the first FLOTUS to do so. She wants to show women of all generations that keeping up with your career interests can be a lifesaver for any family.
It’s what Kate Andersen Brower, author of First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies, described to SheKnows as a “remarkable” way to approach the first lady position. By holding a job while her husband is president, Jill “forced a change in the role” and it will likely have an impact on the partners of the future presidents. The women (and men) who take on the supporting position now have a new role model to look up to.
Before you go, click here to see more celeb moms who put their careers on hold to stay home with their kids.
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