Shruti Iyer isn't planning on taking a break from her career.
At least not right now.
A Wharton and Nursing junior, she still has three years until she finishes her degree.
But should she one day take an extended break from her career and hope to return, she will face some daunting statistics, as will women who have left the work force to have children.
According to the research of Wharton professor Monica McGrath, half of women attempting to re-enter the work force after breaks of at least two years described their job search as frustrating, with 18 percent calling their effort depressing.
Working with two of her former students, McGrath hoped to explain why highly educated women who formerly held high-level positions encountered such difficulty. Of 180 women surveyed, 89 percent had an MBA, and all had at least one graduate degree.
For most of the women in McGrath's sample, the decision to leave the workplace was not made right after giving birth.
Rather, women said that they felt they had reached a point in their career where they would no longer be promoted, regardless of their merit, and felt that their time could be better spent by making a difference in the lives of their families, pursuing another degree or developing personal interests.
Although most women left work due to what they saw as obstacles to advancing their careers, thirst for the intellectual challenge has been a main factor in drawing them back to the job, McGrath said. Another factor is the need for income.
But because she said women tend not to stay as connected as men while taking time away from their careers, they face the challenges of keeping up to date with both industry trends and technology, as well as the need to explain how their time off was relevant to a career in business.
For McGrath, this means conveying everyday obstacles in "business language."
During job interviews, McGrath said, a woman should confidently explain that jobs such as managing a family or taking care of ailing parents require the same multitasking and management skills that are vital in the workplace.
While McGrath emphasizes that women must assume responsibility to keep themselves up to date in their field, she suggests that universities could offer executive-education programs, career services and alumni networks targeted at women trying to restart their careers.
Iyer, who said she knows women who have had difficulty returning to work after taking several years off, agreed that maintaining business contacts is essential for women who hope to return to work.
"Being from Wharton, I think that we should be able to call back on our networks," she said, adding that Wharton does a good job of helping students build networks and explore career opportunities.
Also important, Iyer said, is that women attempting to restart their career do not preoccupy themselves with the idea that working for a top investment bank or hedge fund is the only way to prosper.
Another challenge women face when they take time off is that some employers fear that experienced MBAs are more expensive to hire, McGrath said. Many employers believe that experienced MBAs may expect higher salaries than recent graduates and, in the case of those who have taken a break from the workplace, need to be retrained.
However, women returning to the workplace offer advantages employers may have overlooked, such as being available for more hours than younger women, McGrath said.
Some women returning to the work force may do so because their children have matured, while younger women's families may require greater attention, McGrath said. She added that more experienced female MBAs are more likely to stay with a company for longer.
Michelle Antonio, the senior associate director of Wharton's MBA Career Management, believes that because women are traditionally viewed as caregivers, they may have an easier time explaining their time off to employers.
A Wharton alumna, Antonio took 14 months of maternity leave in order to be more present in her daughter's life at an early age.
But she soon found staying at home full-time more difficult than any of her previous jobs. She realized that to be a happy, well-balanced mom, she needed to return to work -- and she did not really have a problem doing so.
"If you're trying to return to a workplace in a capacity that is similar [to what you were doing before], you can just kind of jump right back into it," she said.
