Abstract :
In this study, we capture the experiences of women who voluntarily step out of the workforce for a hiatus and provide proactive recommendations that these women, as well as employers and universities, can use to facilitate their re-entry into the working world. This study was done under the advisement of the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change and through the support of the Forté Foundation, as well as several professional women s organizations. The research team constructed a survey to delve into the challenges women face when they are ready to return to work after stepping out for a period of time and to collect their advice about how to alleviate, or at least minimize, these challenges. In addition to the survey, we conducted one-on-one interviews with a select group of our survey respondents to explore their experiences in depth. We were interested in how these women manage the process of returning to work after their hiatuses, something we referred to as stepping back in. We discovered that women seem to face similar difficulties, whether their hiatuses spanned 2 years or 8. While ours is not an academic study, our survey and interviews do cast a light on the experiences these women encounter. We feel our respondents have something important to tell us about the stepping-out process and how the stepping-in process can be improved, and we hope our work enables their voices to be heard.
Source : Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
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