Women who earned Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degrees were more likely to become stay-at-home moms than those with medical or law degrees, according to a study.

The University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business study of nearly 1,000 Harvard undergraduates found that 15 years after graduation, business school graduates were more likely than doctors or lawyers to leave the workforce.

"Within a field, we find that women who are in family-friendly environments are more likely to stay working," Associate Professor Catherine Wolfram said in a statement.

Wolfram and her colleague Jane Leber Herr of UC Berkeley's economics department speculated that the business world was less female-friendly than the fields of medicine and law.

The study used Harvard College reunion surveys for the 1988 to 1991 graduating class as their initial data.

Those surveyed were about 37 years old and had at least one child. Fifteen years after graduating from Harvard College, 28 percent of the women who went on to get MBAs were stay-at-home moms. By comparison, only 6 percent of MDs stopped working outside of the home.

Of the MBAs surveyed, 27 percent had careers in the financial sector and 17 percent worked in consulting. The majority of the MDs worked in specialties centered on women (13 percent in obstetrics/gynecology), children (31 percent in pediatric medicine), and family.

The workplace environment played a significant role in determining career longevity, said Wolfram.

Doctors, for example, often work inprivate practices and may be able to work part-time more easily than women in other fields. On the other hand, businesswomen more commonly adhere to the corporate dictate of long hours and heavy travel.

一项最新研究表明，获MBA（工商管理硕士）学位的女性比学医或学法律的女性更有可能成为全职妈妈。

加利福尼亚大学柏克利分校哈斯商学院开展对哈佛学院的近一千名本科生进行了调查。调查发现，与医学或法律专业的学生相比，商学院的学生在毕业15年后离开工作岗位的可能性更大。

凯瑟琳