Big Think: Do Women Pay the Price for Taking their Husband’s Name?

"Analysts have argued that women are changing their names because failing to do so sends the unpleasant signal that they lack commitment in their marriages.

That may be true, but when it comes to job-seeking, that might be exactly the signal women want employers to receive.

Women who choose not to adopt their husband’s name are far more likely to be educated than women who do.

For example, a US woman with a master’s degree is 2.8 times more likely to choose a non-traditional name after marriage than a woman who is educated at a lower level.

A woman with a professional degree is 5 times more likely and a woman with a doctorate is 9.8 times more likely not to change her name than a woman with less than a bachelor degree."

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"If the stereotype of a woman who takes her husband’s name is that she is more committed to family and less to the workplace then we shouldn’t be surprised that she is disadvantaged in seeking employment compared to women who are seen to be independent and ambitious."

Read the full story at Are women paying the price for taking their husband’s name?