As we noted only yesterday, Goldman Sachs stands accused of putting a female employee (‘Charlotte Hanna’) on a ‘mummy track’ after she returned from maternity leave.

The case is interesting, but so is one reader’s reaction to yesterday’s article on it. According to ‘annoyed female,’ women like Hanna who work part time are doing others who are committed to banking careers a terrible disservice.

“By the way, you are damaging the opportunities for those of us who sacrificed having a family for our career, as we recognised that we should not demand ‘special treatment’,” she rants.

“As a woman who is the breadwinner all this really, really annoys me. If you want equal treatment, offer equal commitment, otherwise stop ruining it for those of us who ARE prepared to make the commitment !!! (and who have to pay the bills)“

Face it, you’re part time

Kate Grussing, a former senior banker at Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, who now runs Sapphire Partners, a search firm with special expertise in placing senior women in what are often flexible roles, says women who return to work part time after having children need to be realistic about the compromises they’re making.

“If you want to maximise your compensation, career track, title and seniority, you are simply not going to do that on a part time programme,” Grussing says.

A former managing director at a US bank says that in her experience, while most part time female bankers fully appreciate that they’ll be paid less, they’re not quite as alert to the fact that it will also take longer for them to get promoted.

“You won’t be on the standard track. If you’re only working 50% of the time, it will take you 50% longer to produce the same results and to learn as much,” she points out.

The VP dilemma

Women who’ve been there say the dilemma for most female bankers comes around VP level. At this point, they’re on the cusp of earning more than their partners and, if they have children, need to clarify whose career will take priority.

“Most MD level women have made the choice,” says the former female MD, with children. “Either they don’t have children, or their husband has taken a step down in his career to allow his wife to succeed. There are very few women at MD level who have a family and a husband with a high-powered career.”

The alternatives

Regardless of their initial commitment, some women may simply decide that life as a front office banker isn’t worth the sacrifices.

Notably, Julie Chakraverty, a former member of UBS’s investment banking board and the bank’s youngest ever female MD, decided to give banking a rest in 2008 in order to spend more time with her daughter.

Women who don’t want to get out of banking altogether often opt for senior operational roles, says Grussing.

“Progressing to COO is a well-proven career path for women,” she says. “Banks need experienced and hands-on people as COOs who understand the systems and the operations, but it’s possible to work more flexibly as a COO than, say a salesperson or a trader.”