Graduates must plan their career carefully if they value free time

Hewlett suggests that a woman's likelihood of having a family is in inverse proportion to her career and financial success, while Pearson's heroine tries to combine both and ultimately fails.

In financial services, much depends on which sector you are working in. Different types of job make very different demands and some are more accommodating to the needs of parenthood than others.

Amber Rudd, a City head hunter who worked in corporate finance before switching career to accommodate the needs of her two children, feels that the demands of being a mother are the main reason why men tend to hold the top positions in all sectors, even the 'parent-friendly' ones.

'Certain sectors are both completely inflexible and involve very intense hours. Men deal with this by having wives, and women deal with it by having a myriad of different staff, staving off massive guilt and ultimately resigning,' she says.

Rudd says any graduate hoping for a family in the long term should plan ahead accordingly - something that many fail to do.

Eva Lindholm, mother of two children under three and a managing director in investment banking at JP Morgan says: 'Of the client-facing types of jobs, women often find that private banking, institutional asset management (both marketing and actual money management), securities sales, and other types of financial product sales are the sectors most accommodating to them.

'These jobs often have predictable hours, some capacity for jobs to be shared

or done part-time, and a high degree of use of the types of skills that women are often strong at' - multitasking, listening to people and finding solutions to problems within the context of a long term relationship.

Sectors such as corporate finance and private equity, as well as many capital markets roles, are often challenging, as they involve long hours and often travel. Lindholm herself works in corporate finance and believes her ability to combine her personal and professional life is due to high quality childcare and an equal domestic partnership at home.

Deborah Keily, global head of brand strategy at UBS Warburg, says: 'I would imagine that working in a sales/trading environment where being at your desk for 7am is crucial is particularly difficult - although many people with children do it. Some bosses are more flexible than others.'

Private banking can be a particularly good option for those hoping to smoothly combine a career with children.

It is more accommodating than investment banking because, although it is client driven, the clients are not company directors with businesses to run but wealthy individuals who are likely to keep to more civilised hours themselves.

The service side, such as human resources, public relations or head-hunting, is another area of financial services that suits many parents.

'There are no limitations to the hours that people are expected to work in investment banking,' says Rudd. 'I once turned up to a prospectus meeting at 4.00pm and the lawyer announced that he had ordered breakfast.

'Headhunting appealed to me because I am a single mother and can now go to every sports day and school play that I want to. I also take my son to school every morning. I work just as hard, but my hours are flexible and I move them round my family life. '

Rudd adds that some equity and other analysts can develop a following and then maintain it while working part-time, if they have a sympathetic employer. Because of the individual nature of their work they can sometimes set their own hours.