Some Career Paths Just Don't Work For Working Moms

"Mothers who work and those who stay home often end up judging one another," writes Maya Dollarhide Lucca in a CNN article about working moms. Shocker. But this issue will not go away, and the two sides are each adamant that they are right. Dr. Scott Haltzman, a clinical psychiatrist and an assistant professor at Brown says: "It's very clear to me, from what I've seen in my clients, that children who are put in day care, not raised by their mothers at home, feel a real loss. They feel the absence of those parents and it affects how they want to parent their own children." But author/psychologist Debra Condren counters: "Each time the media reports an interview with yet another professional woman who has seen the light and taken time out for motherhood, everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief. Finally, this woman has figured out what's really important. But keeping yourself from your own ambitions, dreams and career goals can be soul destroying."

Yeah, same old issues. But a new study by UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business found that MBAs were more likely to drop out of the workforce than doctors or lawyers. Why?

It's not because of education: All of the 1,000 participants in the survey went to Harvard. It's not age: All were 37 years old and had at least one child. The difference was in the workplace. A third of the women with MBAs became stay-at-home moms; compared to 6% of MDs. Could it be that doctors often work in private practice and can make their own hours? Could it be that a business environment is not family-friendly? Would it help if there were more women in business, thereby forcing companies to become flexible or lose valuable employees? But why would more women go into business when clearly women in business have a tough time? It's a catch-22. (Would some sort of Title IX help?) I'm reminded of something I read recently, in which the author suggested that the reason the comments on this site are so witty and funny is because women are underutilized at their jobs. Maybe it's not just businesses — maybe the entire concept of a "workforce" needs to be overhauled?

Working Moms Look Back With Mixed Emotions [CNN]
More Women With MBAs Take Mommy-Track Than Doctors: Study [Reuters]

Related: Government Officials: Should Title IX Apply To Science Departments?
On Jezebel's Fine Lines Series and Spunky Female Protagonists [South In The Winter]

Earlier: Many Women Prefer Stay At Home Motherhood To Soulless Cubicle Dwelling

Send an email to Dodai, the author of this post, at dodai@jezebel.com.

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