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 in private 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•沃尔夫勒姆副教授在一份说明中说：“我们发现，在某一特定领域内，处在“有利于家庭’的环境中的女性长期工作的可能性更大。”

 沃尔夫勒姆及其经济学系的同事简•莱伯•赫尔由此推断，商界不如医药和法律行业有利于女性任职。

 该研究使用的原始数据来源于哈佛学院对1988年至1991年毕业班所做的回访调查。

 这些调查对象的年龄约为37岁，并且至少有一个孩子。调查显示，从哈佛学院毕业15年后，28%获得MBA学位的女性成了全职妈妈，而仅有6%成为医学博士的女性放弃了工作。

 在受访的MBA女性中，27%的人在金融行业工作，17%的人从事咨询工作。多数成为医学博士的女性则主要从事与女性（13%从事产科或妇科工作）、儿童（31%从事儿科医学工作）和家庭有关的工作。

 沃尔夫勒姆说，女性的职业寿命很大程度上取决于她们的工作环境。

 比如，医生大多在私人诊所工作，所以与其他行业的女性相比，当医生的女性做兼职更容易。相比之下，在商界打拼的女性则不得不听从公司的安排，要经常出差。

 Vocabulary:

private practice: 私人诊所