More MBAs Take the Mommy Track
The Find: Mothers with MBAs are more likely to drop out of the workforce to become stay-at-home moms than their peers who have medical or legal degrees.- The Source: A new study from Associate Professor Catherine Wolfram of the UC, Berkeley Haas School of Business and Jane Leber Herr, from UC Berkeley's Department of Economics entitled ""Opt-Out Patterns Across Careers: Labor Force Participation Rates Among Highly Educated Mothers."
So what do the authors blame for this exodus of more than a quarter of highly trained female business professionals from the workforce? In short, the business world's failure to be family friendly. Doctors, the authors point out, often opt to work in private practice which can mean the opportunity to work part-time when small children enter the picture. Those in consulting or financial services are less likely to be able to make such arrangements.
The study found that women lawyers were equally as unsatisfied with their careers as businesswomen. However, those with a legal degree were more likely to switch careers than drop out of the world of work completely, perhaps signaling that their is a broader array of choices available to women with a JD degree than those with an MBA.
The authors acknowledge that the results are less than cheering for those who aim for full and flexible female participation in the workforce, but they do see one ray of optimism: growing awareness of what kind of degrees are likely to lead to what sort of lifestyle. For young women considering an MBA, Wolfram recommends: "Talk now to women ten years older than you. The message is to be cognizant of the environment your degree gets you into and what opportunities it offers."
The Question: Do women entering MBA programs have a responsibility to know what they're getting in to, or does the business world owe female MBAs a good deal more flexibility should they decide to become mothers? MBA mothers weigh in: did you get what you bargained for?