Table 12. Doctorate recipients, by major field of study: Selected years, 1986–2016
Field of study |
1986 |
1991 |
1996 |
2001 |
2006 |
2011 |
2016 |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
All fields |
31,897 |
100.0 |
37,530 |
100.0 |
42,437 |
100.0 |
40,744 |
100.0 |
45,620 |
100.0 |
48,911 |
100.0 |
54,904 |
100.0 |
Life sciences |
5,767 |
18.1 |
6,967 |
18.6 |
8,337 |
19.6 |
8,369 |
20.5 |
9,703 |
21.3 |
11,535 |
23.6 |
12,568 |
22.9 |
Agricultural sciences and natural resources |
1,191 |
3.7 |
1,277 |
3.4 |
1,289 |
3.0 |
1,132 |
2.8 |
1,146 |
2.5 |
1,206 |
2.5 |
1,385 |
2.5 |
Biological and biomedical sciences |
3,807 |
11.9 |
4,649 |
12.4 |
5,724 |
13.5 |
5,697 |
14.0 |
6,652 |
14.6 |
8,152 |
16.7 |
8,884 |
16.2 |
Health sciences |
769 |
2.4 |
1,041 |
2.8 |
1,324 |
3.1 |
1,540 |
3.8 |
1,905 |
4.2 |
2,177 |
4.5 |
2,299 |
4.2 |
Physical sciences and earth sciences |
3,644 |
11.4 |
4,406 |
11.7 |
4,550 |
10.7 |
4,024 |
9.9 |
4,686 |
10.3 |
5,271 |
10.8 |
6,252 |
11.4 |
Chemistry |
1,903 |
6.0 |
2,194 |
5.8 |
2,149 |
5.1 |
1,981 |
4.9 |
2,364 |
5.2 |
2,432 |
5.0 |
2,704 |
4.9 |
Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences |
554 |
1.7 |
801 |
2.1 |
724 |
1.7 |
660 |
1.6 |
757 |
1.7 |
852 |
1.7 |
1,227 |
2.2 |
Physics and astronomy |
1,187 |
3.7 |
1,411 |
3.8 |
1,677 |
4.0 |
1,383 |
3.4 |
1,565 |
3.4 |
1,987 |
4.1 |
2,321 |
4.2 |
Mathematics and computer sciences |
1,128 |
3.5 |
1,838 |
4.9 |
2,042 |
4.8 |
1,840 |
4.5 |
2,778 |
6.1 |
3,273 |
6.7 |
3,957 |
7.2 |
Computer and information sciences |
399 |
1.3 |
800 |
2.1 |
920 |
2.2 |
830 |
2.0 |
1,453 |
3.2 |
1,667 |
3.4 |
2,085 |
3.8 |
Mathematics and statistics |
729 |
2.3 |
1,038 |
2.8 |
1,122 |
2.6 |
1,010 |
2.5 |
1,325 |
2.9 |
1,606 |
3.3 |
1,872 |
3.4 |
Psychology and social sciences |
6,150 |
19.3 |
6,470 |
17.2 |
7,167 |
16.9 |
7,151 |
17.6 |
7,231 |
15.9 |
8,221 |
16.8 |
9,078 |
16.5 |
Psychology |
3,126 |
9.8 |
3,250 |
8.7 |
3,494 |
8.2 |
3,400 |
8.3 |
3,260 |
7.1 |
3,576 |
7.3 |
3,946 |
7.2 |
Anthropology |
381 |
1.2 |
341 |
0.9 |
397 |
0.9 |
411 |
1.0 |
472 |
1.0 |
553 |
1.1 |
460 |
0.8 |
Economics |
859 |
2.7 |
885 |
2.4 |
1,008 |
2.4 |
927 |
2.3 |
1,029 |
2.3 |
1,121 |
2.3 |
1,238 |
2.3 |
Political science and government |
414 |
1.3 |
434 |
1.2 |
622 |
1.5 |
658 |
1.6 |
616 |
1.4 |
685 |
1.4 |
745 |
1.4 |
Sociology |
491 |
1.5 |
465 |
1.2 |
517 |
1.2 |
566 |
1.4 |
579 |
1.3 |
657 |
1.3 |
615 |
1.1 |
Other social sciences |
879 |
2.8 |
1,095 |
2.9 |
1,129 |
2.7 |
1,189 |
2.9 |
1,275 |
2.8 |
1,629 |
3.3 |
2,074 |
3.8 |
Engineering |
3,375 |
10.6 |
5,213 |
13.9 |
6,309 |
14.9 |
5,512 |
13.5 |
7,186 |
15.8 |
8,032 |
16.4 |
9,469 |
17.2 |
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering |
118 |
0.4 |
206 |
0.5 |
287 |
0.7 |
203 |
0.5 |
238 |
0.5 |
262 |
0.5 |
369 |
0.7 |
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering |
67 |
0.2 |
149 |
0.4 |
220 |
0.5 |
233 |
0.6 |
525 |
1.2 |
898 |
1.8 |
1,089 |
2.0 |
Chemical engineering |
476 |
1.5 |
621 |
1.7 |
681 |
1.6 |
636 |
1.6 |
799 |
1.8 |
823 |
1.7 |
923 |
1.7 |
Civil engineering |
387 |
1.2 |
509 |
1.4 |
600 |
1.4 |
501 |
1.2 |
655 |
1.4 |
634 |
1.3 |
565 |
1.0 |
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering |
705 |
2.2 |
1,206 |
3.2 |
1,501 |
3.5 |
1,346 |
3.3 |
1,786 |
3.9 |
1,886 |
3.9 |
1,827 |
3.3 |
Industrial and manufacturing engineering |
101 |
0.3 |
165 |
0.4 |
259 |
0.6 |
206 |
0.5 |
234 |
0.5 |
258 |
0.5 |
256 |
0.5 |
Materials science engineering |
187 |
0.6 |
361 |
1.0 |
472 |
1.1 |
448 |
1.1 |
583 |
1.3 |
662 |
1.4 |
985 |
1.8 |
Mechanical engineering |
442 |
1.4 |
762 |
2.0 |
947 |
2.2 |
878 |
2.2 |
1,045 |
2.3 |
1,084 |
2.2 |
1,299 |
2.4 |
Other engineering |
892 |
2.8 |
1,234 |
3.3 |
1,342 |
3.2 |
1,061 |
2.6 |
1,321 |
2.9 |
1,525 |
3.1 |
2,156 |
3.9 |
Education |
6,649 |
20.8 |
6,454 |
17.2 |
6,785 |
16.0 |
6,356 |
15.6 |
6,122 |
13.4 |
4,670 |
9.5 |
5,153 |
9.4 |
Education administration |
1,638 |
5.1 |
1,913 |
5.1 |
2,165 |
5.1 |
2,077 |
5.1 |
2,051 |
4.5 |
924 |
1.9 |
829 |
1.5 |
Education research |
2,725 |
8.5 |
2,354 |
6.3 |
2,699 |
6.4 |
2,637 |
6.5 |
2,751 |
6.0 |
2,438 |
5.0 |
2,386 |
4.3 |
Teacher education |
490 |
1.5 |
408 |
1.1 |
371 |
0.9 |
296 |
0.7 |
250 |
0.5 |
204 |
0.4 |
181 |
0.3 |
Teaching fields |
1,142 |
3.6 |
973 |
2.6 |
864 |
2.0 |
723 |
1.8 |
707 |
1.5 |
805 |
1.6 |
1,167 |
2.1 |
Other education |
654 |
2.1 |
806 |
2.1 |
686 |
1.6 |
623 |
1.5 |
363 |
0.8 |
299 |
0.6 |
590 |
1.1 |
Humanities and arts |
3,443 |
10.8 |
4,053 |
10.8 |
4,982 |
11.7 |
5,430 |
13.3 |
5,332 |
11.7 |
5,226 |
10.7 |
5,484 |
10.0 |
Foreign languages and literature |
445 |
1.4 |
498 |
1.3 |
605 |
1.4 |
620 |
1.5 |
614 |
1.3 |
644 |
1.3 |
599 |
1.1 |
History |
563 |
1.8 |
663 |
1.8 |
857 |
2.0 |
1,031 |
2.5 |
973 |
2.1 |
1,065 |
2.2 |
1,147 |
2.1 |
Letters |
957 |
3.0 |
1,204 |
3.2 |
1,493 |
3.5 |
1,493 |
3.7 |
1,457 |
3.2 |
1,513 |
3.1 |
1,533 |
2.8 |
Other humanities and arts |
1,478 |
4.6 |
1,688 |
4.5 |
2,027 |
4.8 |
2,286 |
5.6 |
2,288 |
5.0 |
2,004 |
4.1 |
2,205 |
4.0 |
Othera |
1,741 |
5.5 |
2,129 |
5.7 |
2,265 |
5.3 |
2,062 |
5.1 |
2,582 |
5.7 |
2,683 |
5.5 |
2,943 |
5.4 |
Business management and administration |
902 |
2.8 |
1,163 |
3.1 |
1,279 |
3.0 |
1,064 |
2.6 |
1,311 |
2.9 |
1,327 |
2.7 |
1,510 |
2.8 |
Communication |
258 |
0.8 |
332 |
0.9 |
389 |
0.9 |
390 |
1.0 |
510 |
1.1 |
650 |
1.3 |
673 |
1.2 |
Non-S&E fields not elsewhere classified |
581 |
1.8 |
634 |
1.7 |
597 |
1.4 |
608 |
1.5 |
757 |
1.7 |
706 |
1.4 |
760 |
1.4 |
Unknown field |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
4 |
* |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |