Table 14. Doctorate recipients, by broad field of study and sex: Selected years, 1986–2016
Field of study and sex |
1986 |
1991 |
1996 |
2001 |
2006 |
2011 |
2016 |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
All fieldsa |
31,897 |
100.0 |
37,394 |
100.0 |
42,244 |
100.0 |
40,667 |
100.0 |
45,579 |
100.0 |
48,889 |
100.0 |
54,894 |
100.0 |
Male |
20,592 |
64.6 |
23,521 |
62.9 |
25,288 |
59.9 |
22,780 |
56.0 |
25,020 |
54.9 |
26,189 |
53.6 |
29,616 |
54.0 |
Female |
11,305 |
35.4 |
13,873 |
37.1 |
16,956 |
40.1 |
17,887 |
44.0 |
20,559 |
45.1 |
22,700 |
46.4 |
25,278 |
46.0 |
Life sciencesb |
5,767 |
100.0 |
6,943 |
100.0 |
8,304 |
100.0 |
8,343 |
100.0 |
9,696 |
100.0 |
11,532 |
100.0 |
12,566 |
100.0 |
Male |
3,812 |
66.1 |
4,242 |
61.1 |
4,688 |
56.5 |
4,417 |
52.9 |
4,690 |
48.4 |
5,243 |
45.5 |
5,643 |
44.9 |
Female |
1,955 |
33.9 |
2,701 |
38.9 |
3,616 |
43.5 |
3,926 |
47.1 |
5,006 |
51.6 |
6,289 |
54.5 |
6,923 |
55.1 |
Physical sciences and earth sciences |
3,644 |
100.0 |
4,390 |
100.0 |
4,516 |
100.0 |
4,018 |
100.0 |
4,681 |
100.0 |
5,269 |
100.0 |
6,249 |
100.0 |
Male |
3,047 |
83.6 |
3,545 |
80.8 |
3,525 |
78.1 |
2,992 |
74.5 |
3,321 |
70.9 |
3,629 |
68.9 |
4,286 |
68.6 |
Female |
597 |
16.4 |
845 |
19.2 |
991 |
21.9 |
1,026 |
25.5 |
1,360 |
29.1 |
1,640 |
31.1 |
1,963 |
31.4 |
Mathematics and computer sciences |
1,128 |
100.0 |
1,830 |
100.0 |
2,026 |
100.0 |
1,838 |
100.0 |
2,778 |
100.0 |
3,269 |
100.0 |
3,957 |
100.0 |
Male |
959 |
85.0 |
1,514 |
82.7 |
1,656 |
81.7 |
1,407 |
76.6 |
2,074 |
74.7 |
2,456 |
75.1 |
2,998 |
75.8 |
Female |
169 |
15.0 |
316 |
17.3 |
370 |
18.3 |
431 |
23.4 |
704 |
25.3 |
813 |
24.9 |
959 |
24.2 |
Psychology and social sciences |
6,150 |
100.0 |
6,455 |
100.0 |
7,148 |
100.0 |
7,141 |
100.0 |
7,226 |
100.0 |
8,220 |
100.0 |
9,078 |
100.0 |
Male |
3,504 |
57.0 |
3,247 |
50.3 |
3,452 |
48.3 |
3,234 |
45.3 |
3,072 |
42.5 |
3,332 |
40.5 |
3,749 |
41.3 |
Female |
2,646 |
43.0 |
3,208 |
49.7 |
3,696 |
51.7 |
3,907 |
54.7 |
4,154 |
57.5 |
4,888 |
59.5 |
5,329 |
58.7 |
Engineering |
3,375 |
100.0 |
5,169 |
100.0 |
6,268 |
100.0 |
5,502 |
100.0 |
7,181 |
100.0 |
8,024 |
100.0 |
9,469 |
100.0 |
Male |
3,150 |
93.3 |
4,702 |
91.0 |
5,491 |
87.6 |
4,572 |
83.1 |
5,729 |
79.8 |
6,242 |
77.8 |
7,277 |
76.9 |
Female |
225 |
6.7 |
467 |
9.0 |
777 |
12.4 |
930 |
16.9 |
1,452 |
20.2 |
1,782 |
22.2 |
2,192 |
23.1 |
Education |
6,649 |
100.0 |
6,444 |
100.0 |
6,766 |
100.0 |
6,351 |
100.0 |
6,115 |
100.0 |
4,666 |
100.0 |
5,153 |
100.0 |
Male |
3,036 |
45.7 |
2,696 |
41.8 |
2,579 |
38.1 |
2,251 |
35.4 |
2,130 |
34.8 |
1,432 |
30.7 |
1,550 |
30.1 |
Female |
3,613 |
54.3 |
3,748 |
58.2 |
4,187 |
61.9 |
4,100 |
64.6 |
3,985 |
65.2 |
3,234 |
69.3 |
3,603 |
69.9 |
Humanities and arts |
3,443 |
100.0 |
4,044 |
100.0 |
4,965 |
100.0 |
5,422 |
100.0 |
5,327 |
100.0 |
5,226 |
100.0 |
5,482 |
100.0 |
Male |
1,980 |
57.5 |
2,249 |
55.6 |
2,561 |
51.6 |
2,775 |
51.2 |
2,680 |
50.3 |
2,572 |
49.2 |
2,639 |
48.1 |
Female |
1,463 |
42.5 |
1,795 |
44.4 |
2,404 |
48.4 |
2,647 |
48.8 |
2,647 |
49.7 |
2,654 |
50.8 |
2,843 |
51.9 |
Otherc |
1,741 |
100.0 |
2,119 |
100.0 |
2,251 |
100.0 |
2,052 |
100.0 |
2,575 |
100.0 |
2,683 |
100.0 |
2,940 |
100.0 |
Male |
1,104 |
63.4 |
1,326 |
62.6 |
1,336 |
59.4 |
1,132 |
55.2 |
1,324 |
51.4 |
1,283 |
47.8 |
1,474 |
50.1 |
Female |
637 |
36.6 |
793 |
37.4 |
915 |
40.6 |
920 |
44.8 |
1,251 |
48.6 |
1,400 |
52.2 |
1,466 |
49.9 |