Women MBAs more likely to divorce than men

According to a soon-to-be-published study by Washington & Lee University School of Law and reported in the Wall St. Journal, women with M.B.A.s are twice as likely to get divorced or separated as their male counterparts. In short, a professional degree is often hazardous to marital health. According to the study:

Women with M.B.A.s described themselves as divorced or separated more often than women with only bachelor's degrees (12% of female M.B.A.s compared with 11% of women with only bachelor's degrees) and more than twice as often as men with M.B.A.s (5% of whom reported being divorced or separated).

The study's author believes that the root cause is that highly successful women "can't summon up the TLC and support that high-earning men need." Her advice, according to the WSJ story, is that " Well-educated, highly compensated women should be targeting particularly loving and supportive men."

Anyone familiar with statistics will know that while accurate conclusions can be drawn against populations, it is dangerous and inappropriate to attempt to apply so conclusions to specific individuals or families--especially for something as complex as marital success.

Source: Wall Street Journal(may require fee)

Additional reading: Professor Wilson (the study's author) on the downside of "no fault" divorce. (NYT)