In 2012, Anne-Marie Slaughter famously wrote in The Atlantic that "women still can't have it all." Now, a handful of banks and law firms are working to rectify that claim.
A 2009 study by the Harvard Business Review found that 31 percent of women left their jobs voluntarily, often to take care of children. The study also found that 89 percent of women wanted to re-enter the workforce after an average of two and a half years, but only 40 percent could find full-time jobs in their fields. Now, a new set of programs allow women to hone their skills and re-familiarize themselves with their respective industries. These re-entry programs — or 'mom-ternships,' as Kat Stoeffel at The Cut has dubbed them — last 10 to 12 weeks at banks, including JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, and are one-year fellowships at law firms, including Baker Botts and Sidley Austin.
"The hope is that fellows will be offered permanent positions at the end of a year," says Jennifer Preston at The New York Times. The programs are small — currently limited to 10 and 15 people in banking and law, respectively — but it's a nice move toward balanced and fair workplaces.