Role satisfaction, marital satisfaction, and self-esteem of married graduate students were assessed with eight couples who relocated and eight couples who did not when one partner began graduate studies. Half of the couples were participants in the Couples in Transition Project at the University of California, Berkeley. The couples were administered the "Who Does What" (Cowan and Cowan) questionnare within a year and a half of beginning graduate school. Respondents rated how 36 household chores, family decisions, and child care tasks were divided by the couple and how they would like to see such responsibilities shared in the future. Role satisfaction was determined by the discrepancy between ratings for current versus desired division of labor for each task. Satisfaction with self, or self-esteem, was assessed with the Gough Adjective Checklist, and satisfaction with the couple relationship was assessed with the Locke Wallace Short Marital Adjustment Test. Both men and women who relocated scored significantly lower on self-esteem than nonrelocatees. Couples who relocated tended to report less role satisfaction than couples who did not. Individuals in both groups, and especially the women, were significantly less satisfied with the way in which housework was shared than with the decision-making arrangements in their relationships. It is concluded that when one partner entered graduate school, both individuals experienced role dissatisfaction, and for those who relocated, there was lower self-esteem for both. (SW)