Study Shows that Half of Industry Leaders Are Not Concerned That Women Executives Are Leaving the Workforce
Many senior executives say it takes 2 to 4 years for a woman to catch up in the workplace after leaving for more than 2 years, according to a Pepperdine University Survey
WEST LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 24, 2006 – Only half of senior level business executives (49%) surveyed are concerned about mid- and upper management women leaving the workforce for personal and/or family reasons, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive® among Fortune 1000 senior-level executives for Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management.
The survey also showed many executives (38%) believe that it takes a woman between 2 and 4 years to catch up (in terms of salary and position) after leaving the workforce for more than 2 years. What’s more, 12% say it will take a woman four years or more and 13% say she is unlikely to fully catch up.
Although the number of women executives responding to the survey is small[1], female executives are more likely than male executives to say they are concerned about mid- and upper management women leaving the workforce (61% women vs. 47% men).
“According to Pepperdine Graziadio School’s market research, we estimate that in Southern California, more than 500,000 women with bachelor’s degrees who have families have left the workforce,” said Linda Livingstone, dean of the Graziadio School of Business and Management. “This large number combined with the survey results generates several questions. What happens to women when they return to work? Why are only half of executives concerned about women leaving the workforce? Is it because they don’t view it as a problem or that the topic simply isn’t an issue to them? Well, we’re learning more and more that leading executives should be concerned about women leaving the workplace and that women face significant challenges if they want to return to work.”
“Many talented, committed women take off-ramps, but an overwhelming majority can't wait to get back in," says Sylvia Ann Hewlett, an author of a Harvard Business Review study based on women on- and off-ramping (“Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success,” Harvard Business Review, March 2005). According to the survey, “Off-ramping is an important phenomenon. 37% of highly qualified women voluntarily leave their careers for a period of time - i.e., they off-ramp. Women who've taken time off typically find re-entry into the workforce enormously difficult. 93% of women who off-ramp want to get back to work, yet only 74% succeed in obtaining jobs and only 40% return to full-time jobs.”
The Harvard Business Review study that was conducted also found, “Off-ramping among highly qualified women is often triggered by family responsibilities. However, despite the brevity of their time out, women lose an average of 18% of their earning power when they off-ramp. This figure rises to a staggering 37% when women leave for three or more years.”
“It is clear that after a prolonged absence, it’s not unusual for a woman returning to work to face internal challenges “catching up” in term of skills, earning power, and acceptance among peers. Livingstone added. “Clearly, senior managers need to give more attention to addressing the needs of those women who want to return to the workforce to more effectively address long-term staffing needs.”
As a solution to some of these challenges, The Graziadio School also sought to learn how someone could prepare to reenter the workforce with comparable or sharper skills than their peers after a prolonged absence. Nine out of ten (90%) senior level executives say getting an MBA before returning to work would be at least somewhat valuable for a woman who has been out of the workforce for personal and/or family reasons – one in five (21%) say it would be ‘very valuable.’ Women executives are twice as likely as male executives to think getting an MBA before returning to work is very valuable (36% women vs. 18% men).[2]
Beginning in August 2006, Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management will offer a Morning MBA program at the West Los Angeles and Irvine campuses. The Morning MBA is a 28-month program with seven weeks off during the summer periods (July through August), and three week breaks between trimesters in April and December. Students will meet on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each week. Students will be required to attend four weekend modules (behavioral workshop, business symposium and two simulations). The curriculum is similar to the Fully Employed MBA (evening MBA) curriculum. The application deadline is June 19, 2006 and classes begin on August 29, 2006. The program is meant to accommodate those who have family or other obligations in the afternoons, evenings, and weekends, but have availability in the morning. For additional information, please visit http://www.Bschool.pepperdine.edu/programs/morningmba/.
About the Harris Interactive Poll
Harris Interactive conducted this survey using its Executive Omnibus™, a nationwide telephone survey of 150 leading executives in Fortune 1000 companies. The survey was conducted between February 8 and 28, 2006. Executives from a broad range of industries, services, locales, and sizes of companies were interviewed. Data from this sample are not weighted and are representative only of the body of individuals surveyed. In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results for the overall sample have a sampling error of plus or minus 8 percentage points.
About the Graziadio School of Business and Management
Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management is one of the nation's largest AACSB-accredited graduate business schools. Founded in 1969, the business school is named for the cofounder, chairman, and CEO of Imperial Bancorp, George L. Graziadio. U.S. News & World Report ranks its Fully Employed MBA program among the top 30 in the nation; while Financial Times ranks its Full-time MBA program among the top 60 programs of its kind and cites the business school among the top 10 in the world in Organizational Behavior. The Graziadio School's Executive MBA program is also ranked among the top 25 programs globally by BusinessWeek Magazine while Forbes Magazine recently placed its Fully Employed MBA program among the top 20 in the nation for return on investment. The Graziadio School also offers a bachelor's completion degree program, a Master of Science in Organization Development, and non-degree executive education programs. With an alumni network of nearly 30,000 graduates, the mission of the Graziadio School is to develop values-centered leaders for contemporary business practice. For more information visit: http://www.Bschool.pepperdine.edu.
About Harris Interactive®
Harris Interactive, the 13th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world, provides clients with research-driven insights and strategic advice to help them make more confident decisions, leading to measurable and enduring improvements in performance.
Widely known for The Harris Poll® and for pioneering online market research methods, Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States (www.harrisinteractive.com), Europe (www.harrisinteractive.com/europe), and Asia offices and is supported by its a wholly-owned subsidiary Novatris (www.novatris.com) in Paris and an independent global network of affiliate market research companies. Harris Interactive is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and Europe operations are based in London.
