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Women are increasingly putting their husband's career before their own, a controversial new study of Harvard Business School graduates has found.

It canvassed over 25,000 male and female students, and found 40 percent of Gen X and boomer women said their spouses' careers took priority over theirs.

They researchers also said only about 20 percent of them had planned on their careers taking a back seat when they graduated..

The team also say that in most cases, children were not the cause of the lapsed careers. The majority of women said they assumed they would have egalitarian marriages in which both spouses' careers were taken equally seriously.

They concluded that while women were well intentioned when they graduated, they ultimately ended up being held back by their partners.

The new study of Harvard Business School graduates from HBS's Robin Ely and Colleen Ammerman and Hunter College sociologist Pamela Stone interviewed 25,000 men and women who graduated from Harvard Business School over the past several decades.

'In the end, we found not just achievement and satisfaction gaps between men and women, but a real gap between what women expect as they look ahead to their careers and where they ultimately land,' they wrote.

'The men and women who graduate from HBS set out with much in common—MBAs, high ambitions, and preparation for leadership. 

'Perhaps it's time for more-candid conversations—at home, at work, and on campus—about how and why their paths unfold so differently.'

The researchers found male graduates were much more likely to be in senior management positions and have more responsibility and more direct reports than their female peers. 

'Setting aside those measures of success, since not everyone aspires to them, we found that women are less satisfied with their careers. 

'Whereas about 50% to 60% of men across the three generations told us they were 'extremely satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with their experiences of meaningful work, professional accomplishments, opportunities for career growth, and compatibility of work and personal life, only 40% to 50% of women were similarly satisfied on the same dimensions.'

When they graduated, more than half of male HBS grads said they expected their careers would take precedence over their partners'. 

Only 7 percent of Gen X women and 3 percent of baby boomer women said they expected their careers to take precedence. 

Researchers surveyed more than 25,000 HBS graduates altogether.

'Close to three-quarters of Gen X and Baby Boom men reported that their careers had indeed taken precedence—more than had originally expected this arrangement, the researchers wrote.

'Meanwhile, many women's expectations for career equality were disappointed. 

'Though majorities of Gen X and Baby Boom women reported that they were in egalitarian or progressive partnerships, the remainder found that their careers took lower priority. 

'That figure—40%—is almost double the proportion who left HBS expecting a traditional arrangement.'

More than 70 percent of Gen X and boomer men say their careers are more important than their wives.