Does a Spouse Slow You Down? Marriage and Graduate Student Outcomes

Joseph P. Price, Cornell University

Using data on 11,000 graduate students at 100 departments over a 20 year period, I test whether graduate students outcomes (graduation rates, time to degree, publication success, and initial job placement) differ based on a student’s gender and marital status. I find that married men have better outcomes across every measure than single men. Married women do no worse than single women on any measure and actually have more publishing success and complete their degree is less time. The outcomes of cohabiting students generally fall between those of single and married students.