哈佛女性: 千辛萬苦拿到文憑, 被迫無奈退出職場

When Sheryl Sandberg returned to Harvard Business School for a talk in 2011, her pointed answer to a question from an audience of MBAs drew stunned silence. "If current trends continue, " Sandberg said, "15 years from today, about one-third of the women in this audience will be working full-time and almost all of you will be working for the guy you are sitting next to."

2011年，謝莉爾·桑德伯格重返母校哈佛商學院（Harvard Business School）發表演講。演講過程中，她對一位MBA學員提問給出的回答，令現場陷入了沉默。桑德伯格說道：“如果當前的趨勢繼續下去，15年後，現場的女性當中，只有三分之一會從事全職工作，而且，你們基本上都是在給坐在旁邊的男生們打工。”

It turns out that the Facebook (FB) COO's gloomy prediction has not materialized. A new study by Harvard Business School published on April 4 shows that only 10% of Generation X alumnae (ages 31 to 47) are at home caring for their children full time. Some 70% of all women alumni from HBS are in the paid workforce, and 56% work full time.

事實證明，Facebook首席運營官令人沮喪的預測並未成爲現實。哈佛商學院於4月4日公佈的一項研究顯示，X一代（31至47歲）女性畢業生中，僅有10%選擇全職在家照看孩子。哈佛商學院所有女性畢業生中，約有70%在從事有償工作，而從事全職工作的比例爲56%。

"She is very far off the mark, " says Robin Ely, senior associate dean for culture and community. "There is this image of these women that is not positive. People think they get these MBAs. They have taken a seat from a man and then they go off, get married, and not do anything. But it's just not their experience."

社會文化系高級副主任羅賓·伊莉認爲：“她有些言過其實了。確實有一些女性畢業生的形象不夠積極進取。人們認爲她們獲得了MBA學位，從男性競爭對手那裏獲得了一個職位。然後她們離開，結婚生子，從此無所事事。然而，這並非她們的真實經歷。”

The number that Sandberg, an HBS alumnus, quoted two years ago and in her recently published book, Lean In, comes from an earlier informal study culled from reunion data some 15 years ago. Harvard's new research is the most systematic study ever done of business school alumnae. Dubbed the "Life and Leadership After HBS" survey, the project addresses everything from employment and child-caring responsibilities to personal satisfaction with faith and wealth. The study includes responses from 3, 786 women and 2, 655 men, a response rate of 25% from the 25, 810 who were surveyed. The full results won't be available until later this year, but the school shared key findings around gender to commemorate the admission of women into the two-year MBA program 50 years ago. Only eight women were enrolled in Harvard's first full-time MBA class. Now, women make up 40% of the student body.

同爲哈佛商學院校友的桑德伯格，在她最近出版的新書《互依》（Lean In）中也引用了她在兩年前提到的數字。這些數字源於一份根據15年前的回訪得出的非正式調查結果。而哈佛最新對商學院校友進行了一場最爲系統性的研究。這項名爲“走出哈佛的生活與領導力”的調查項目，涉及從就業、育兒責任、到對信念和財富的個人滿意度等方面，共調查了25,810人，得到了3,786名女性和2,655名男性的響應，回覆率爲25%。詳細結果要在今年晚些時候全部公佈，不過，爲紀念女性被允許就讀兩年制MBA學位50週年，哈佛商學院公開了部分與性別有關的調查結果。在當年哈佛首屆全日制MBA課程入學登記中，只有8位女性學員。如今，女性學員人數已達40%。

Ely says she regularly confronts the dismal estimates surrounding women dropping out of the workforce. On a recent alumni visit to northern California, Ely says she was horrified to hear a female alum say "' 'I can't believe that 15 years out, only 25% of the women are working.' But after all is said and done, only 10% of women are at home full-time caring for their kids, " says Ely. "And of the people currently at home with kids, we asked if they plan to go back to work. Only 3% said no, 11% were unsure, and 86% said yes."

伊莉表示，她經常聽到關於女性將退出職場的慘淡預測。在最近一次拜訪北加州的校友活動中，一位女校友說：“真不敢相信，這15年來，只有25%的女性在工作。” 伊莉表示這讓她非常震驚。伊莉說道：“實際上，只有10%的女性全職在家照看孩子。而且對於目前在家照看孩子的女性，我們曾詢問她們是否計劃重新回去工作。只有3%的人表示不會，11%的人尚不確定，而其他86%的人均表示肯定會重返職場。”

Also surprising, adds Ely, was the fact that among women not employed full-time, many were working part-time jobs that average 25 hours in a typical week, and the vast majority (three-fourths) are engaged in pro bono and volunteer efforts. Thirteen percent of Gen X women are working part-time, compared with only 2% of men. Some 63% of the women report regular or significant volunteer commitments. Alumnae who care for children full-time are even more committed to pro bono work, with 67% reporting substantial volunteer activity.

此外，令伊莉吃驚的是，在未從事全職工作的女性校友當中，許多人仍在從事兼職，每週平均工作25個小時，而且大多數（約四分之三）都在參加公益和志願者活動。X一代女性校友中，13%在從事兼職工作，而男性校友則僅爲2%。約63%的女性表示自己定期參加志願者活動，或是一些有意義的活動。而擔任全職媽媽的女性校友則會更多參加公益活動，有67%表示參加過大量的志願者活動。

Some may take a less optimistic view of the study's results, however. Ely's research found, for example, that some 43% of female graduates from the Boomer generation (ages 48-66) are no longer working full-time, compared with only 28% of men. The discrepancy is more pronounced among Gen X women. Some 26% of women in this age group have left the full-time workforce, five times more than their male peers -- but well below Sandberg's estimate. The study found that the more children alumnae have, the more likely they are to nix full-time jobs. A whopping 37% of Gen X women with two or more kids aren't in the full-time workforce, compared with only 9% who have no children.

然而，有些人對研究結果可能並沒有這麼樂觀。例如，伊莉的調查發現，來自嬰兒潮一代（48至66歲）的女性畢業生中，約有43%已經不再從事全職工作，而同年齡段男性的比例僅爲28%。這種差異在X一代女性當中更爲明顯。屬於這個年齡段的女性當中，約有26%已經離開了全職崗位，是同年齡段男性的五倍以上——不過這仍遠遠低於桑德伯格的預測。研究發現，女性畢業時的孩子越多，越有可能放棄全職工作。有兩個或兩個以上孩子的X一代女性畢業生中，竟然有37%沒有全職工作，相比而言，沒有孩子的同年齡段女性放棄全職工作的比例僅有9%。

Ely, who presented the survey's findings to some 900 female alumnae gathered at Harvard to celebrate the 50th anniversary of women's admission on April 4-5, says that many women who had opted out to care for their children are struggling with their decisions. "A lot of the women I talked to at the summit said, 'I feel that I am atrophying. I made a decision to leave my job because I felt overwhelmed. I felt guilty. I felt like I couldn't be good at anything.'"

在哈佛慶祝女性就讀MBA五十週年的活動上，伊莉將她的調查結果介紹給了在場的900位女校友。她表示，爲了照顧孩子而決定退出職場的許多女性，對於當初的決定仍耿耿於懷。“在大會上，許多女性對我說：‘我感覺自己退化了。我之所以決定離開我的工作，是因爲我覺得自己不堪重負。我感覺心虛。我認爲自己再也做不好任何事情了。’”

The study, which allowed respondents to add written comments, underlines the angst many women feel over work-life balance issues. "It's a challenge to be a smart, driven, ambitious woman and still be a primary caregiver to one's children, " wrote a full-time working mother in the study. "We are taught we can 'have it all.' But there are sacrifices that need to be made, and women often feel as if they are 'failing' or 'not living up to potential' when making those sacrifices."

這項研究允許受訪者添加書面評論，由此發現了許多女性對於工作生活平衡問題的憂慮。其中一位職場媽媽這樣寫道：“既要做一名聰明能幹、有志向的女性，又要承擔起照顧孩子的主要責任，這真的非常有挑戰性。人們總是告訴我們可以‘擁有一切’。然而，我們必須做出犧牲，而在這種情況下，女性經常感覺她們‘失敗了’，或者‘沒能發揮潛能’。”

One alum explained how, after having a child, her boss no longer wanted to give her challenging assignments for fear she would leave. "She started to get bored and asked herself, 'Why am I doing this?'" The alum explained: "Many organizations think women want less challenging work [after they have a child]. Actually, I was seeking more challenging work on some sort of track." Ultimately, this alum left the company.

一位女校友稱，在自己生完孩子之後，她的老闆因爲擔心她離職，再也不給她分配有挑戰性的工作。“於是，她開始感覺無聊，並問自己：‘我爲什麼要做這份工作？’”這位校友解釋道：“許多機構都認爲，女性[在生完孩子之後]希望擔任沒有什麼挑戰性的工作。而實際上，我希望接受一些挑戰性更強的工作。”最後，這位校友離開了那家公司。

When asked which factors are holding back women from advancing in their careers, 84% of female respondents acknowledged that it was "taking leaves or reducing work hours." The second most cited impediment to career advancement for women? "Prioritizing family over work." Some 82% of the female respondents in the study identified this reason.

當被問及哪些因素阻礙了女性的職業發展時，84%的女性受訪者承認，阻礙她們發展的是“請假或減少工作時間”。位居第二位的不利因素是“重視家庭高於工作”。有約82%的女性受訪者選擇了這個原因。

Beyond reconciling motherhood and careers, the survey suggests that external forces in the workplace are putting extra stress on women and steering them toward alternative work options, such as part-time and non-profit work. The majority of alums believe that a dearth of senior female role models, inhospitable corporate cultures, and the lack of supportive environments hold women back in the workplace.

除了協調媽媽的身份與職業之外，調查還發現，職場上的外部壓力給女性帶來了額外壓力，迫使她們選擇其他工作類型，例如兼職和非營利性工作。大多數校友都認爲，缺少資深的女性榜樣、冷漠的公司文化，以及缺乏支持性環境等，都使女性在職場上舉步維艱。

Harvard's MBA alumnae want much more out of their careers than they are getting. Less than half of the women under the age of 67 report being satisfied with their professional accomplishments or opportunities for career growth. Satisfaction skews the opposite way for men, most of whom agree that their work is meaningful and satisfying.

哈佛的MBA女畢業生們希望從職業中獲得更多。67歲以下的女性中，表示對自己的職業成就或職業發展機會滿意的不足一半。而男性的情況則相反，大多數男性認爲他們的工作非常有意義，並且非常令人滿意。

In the study, Harvard also asked alums what their definition of Success was when they left Harvard Business School versus now. One male respondent said when he graduated with his MBA, his definition of success was "becoming someone who is an expert at bringing new innovations to the marketplace."

在研究中，哈佛還詢問畢業生們，他們離開哈佛商學院時和現在相比，他們對成功的定義有何不同。一位男性受訪者表示，當他從MBA畢業時，他對成功的定義是“成爲一位能給市場帶來全新創新產品的專家。”

His definition now? "Being married with two kids, I can no longer define success only from a career accomplishment perspective. Success to me is summed up in the following equations: Family money earned is greater than family earning spent. Dad's effort equals mom's effort. Helping others is better than complaining about others. Family happiness is greater than anything else in the world."

他如今又是如何定義成功呢？“作爲兩個孩子的父親，我不會單純從職業成就的角度定義成功。對於我而言，成功意味着：家庭收入高於家庭開支。爸爸的努力等於媽媽的努力。幫助其他人好於抱怨其他人。家人的幸福比世界上任何事情都重要。”

Another male alum summed up his definition of success before and after with three-word answers: "When he left HBS, " says Ely, it was 'money, money, money.' His definition of success now is 'balance, balance, balance.'"Ely believes that organizations need to be open to recruiting and hiring women who have opted out of full-time work but now want to resume their careers. "A 20-year-old woman has a life expectancy of 100 today, " she says, quoting an earlier speaker who came to Harvard Business School during the kickoff week of the 50th anniversary commemoration. "And so if she steps out of the workforce when her kids are a certain age, she has a huge amount of time for her to come back to work. We really need to reconceive careers.

另外一名男性畢業生用三個詞總結了自己不同時期對成功的定義：“當他從哈佛商學院畢業時，”伊莉說道，成功就是“錢、錢、錢”。如今，他的成功定義是‘平衡、平衡、平衡。’伊莉認爲，對於曾經選擇放棄全職工作，如今希望重回職場的女性，公司應該以開放的心態聘用。她引用哈佛商學院50週年慶祝活動啓動週期間一位演講者的話說：“如今，20歲的女性壽命可能達到100歲。所以，在她的孩子達到一定年齡之前，她得放棄工作，但她還有大量的時間可以重返職場。我們真的需要重新審視我們的職業狀況。”