Motherhood Punishes Businesswomen More Than Three Other Top-Earning Professions
Harvard University, November 2010
Available
online (abstract)
According to a study, women with MBAs who take professional leave to raise their children are taking a greater hit to their income than women with medical, pharmacy and law degrees.
The study, conducted by Harvard economics professors Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz, found that female MBAs who have taken off 18 months earn 41 percent less on average than male MBAs, while female MDs earn 16 percent less than their male counterparts (PhDs and JDs were in between). Women are becoming veterinarians and pharmacists in greater numbers than ever before as these professions begin offering more scheduling flexibility. In the medical profession, younger women are turning to gastroenterology and colon and rectal surgery, in addition to other specialties like psychiatry and dermatology, because they can schedule routine colonoscopies and endoscopies in advance and exercise greater control over their hours.
Other key findings from the study include:
- Women tend to choose professions with a lower penality for child-bearing, and
- Attitudes toward work and life may differ more by generation than by gender.
