October 9, 2005 9:29 AM

Mom's staying connected, not "opting out"
Posted by Diane Danielsonat 9:29 AM

Despite the media promoted a massive trend of women opting out of the workforce, BostonWorks writer Maggie Jackson looks at a number of resources helping working mothers stay connected with corporate America.

While the number of moms who work and have children under the age of six has dropped from 65 percent in 2000 to 62 percent last year, this trend doesn't herald an ''opt-out revolution,'' as some pundits trumpeted. Most mothers who take time off for family reasons later want to return to work, research shows. The trouble is that women who have been home face an uphill battle. Their Rolodex is rusty, so networking is tough. They feel out of touch. And they face real discrimination, says Shelley Correll, a Cornell University associate professor who coauthored a recent study showing that job-hunting mothers are often penalized, even when they have no gaps on their résumé.