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Table 15. Doctorate recipients, by sex and major field of study: 2006–16

Sex and major field of study 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 % change 2006–16
All doctorate recipientsa 45,620 48,132 48,777 49,552 48,029 48,911 50,945 52,704 53,994 54,909 54,904 20.4
Life sciences 9,703 10,702 11,086 11,403 11,319 11,535 11,964 12,208 12,484 12,503 12,568 29.5
Agricultural sciences and natural resources 1,146 1,321 1,198 1,283 1,100 1,206 1,255 1,324 1,338 1,434 1,385 20.9
Biological and biomedical sciences 6,652 7,238 7,797 8,025 8,046 8,152 8,322 8,355 8,868 8,792 8,884 33.6
Health sciences 1,905 2,143 2,091 2,095 2,173 2,177 2,387 2,529 2,278 2,277 2,299 20.7
Physical sciences and earth sciences 4,686 4,956 4,946 5,160 4,995 5,271 5,419 5,584 5,911 5,918 6,252 33.4
Chemistry 2,364 2,318 2,246 2,391 2,304 2,432 2,416 2,484 2,673 2,668 2,704 14.4
Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 757 875 865 877 862 852 941 989 1,099 1,057 1,227 62.1
Physics and astronomy 1,565 1,763 1,835 1,892 1,829 1,987 2,062 2,111 2,139 2,193 2,321 48.3
Mathematics and computer sciences 2,778 3,042 3,187 3,163 3,223 3,273 3,496 3,660 3,863 3,818 3,957 42.4
Computer and information sciences 1,453 1,654 1,787 1,610 1,633 1,667 1,793 1,843 1,989 2,003 2,085 43.5
Mathematics and statistics 1,325 1,388 1,400 1,553 1,590 1,606 1,703 1,817 1,874 1,815 1,872 41.3
Psychology and social sciences 7,231 7,309 7,635 7,945 7,883 8,221 8,498 8,580 8,752 9,080 9,078 25.5
Psychology 3,260 3,276 3,357 3,472 3,421 3,576 3,599 3,592 3,724 3,779 3,946 21.0
Anthropology 472 512 483 503 507 553 547 550 524 492 460 -2.5
Economics 1,029 1,004 1,091 1,118 1,073 1,121 1,243 1,183 1,196 1,255 1,238 20.3
Political science and government 616 588 628 682 728 685 724 803 777 859 745 20.9
Sociology 579 576 601 662 639 657 633 636 679 742 615 6.2
Other social sciences 1,275 1,353 1,475 1,508 1,515 1,629 1,752 1,816 1,852 1,953 2,074 62.7
Engineering 7,186 7,749 7,864 7,642 7,578 8,032 8,469 9,000 9,628 9,878 9,469 31.8
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 238 267 266 297 252 262 307 348 386 361 369 55.0
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 525 637 762 834 824 898 943 1,039 1,046 1,127 1,089 107.4
Chemical engineering 799 817 873 807 822 823 840 824 973 1,002 923 15.5
Civil engineering 655 703 713 707 643 634 495 542 617 632 565 -13.7
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 1,786 1,967 1,888 1,693 1,778 1,886 1,938 1,897 1,953 1,998 1,827 2.3
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 234 279 280 251 215 258 226 241 298 243 256 9.4
Materials science engineering 583 646 636 625 670 662 743 815 833 871 985 69.0
Mechanical engineering 1,045 1,071 1,082 1,095 983 1,084 1,220 1,277 1,331 1,466 1,299 24.3
Other engineering 1,321 1,362 1,364 1,333 1,391 1,525 1,757 2,017 2,191 2,178 2,156 63.2
Education 6,122 6,448 6,561 6,528 5,287 4,670 4,803 4,934 4,789 5,098 5,153 -15.8
Education administration 2,051 2,161 2,238 2,146 1,439 924 1,057 965 893 920 829 -59.6
Education research 2,751 2,671 2,640 2,663 2,443 2,438 2,569 2,703 2,560 2,772 2,386 -13.3
Teacher education 250 297 274 332 245 204 156 109 152 156 181 -27.6
Teaching fields 707 873 912 906 799 805 757 892 915 953 1,167 65.1
Other education 363 446 497 481 361 299 264 265 269 297 590 62.5
Humanities and arts 5,332 5,085 4,736 4,904 5,015 5,226 5,562 5,715 5,524 5,594 5,484 2.9
Foreign languages and literature 614 607 627 598 601 644 684 701 674 656 599 -2.4
History 973 937 971 1,045 1,005 1,065 1,087 1,148 1,186 1,146 1,147 17.9
Letters 1,457 1,340 1,420 1,413 1,516 1,513 1,638 1,606 1,551 1,583 1,533 5.2
Other humanities and arts 2,288 2,201 1,718 1,848 1,893 2,004 2,153 2,260 2,113 2,209 2,205 -3.6
Otherb 2,582 2,841 2,762 2,807 2,729 2,683 2,734 3,023 3,043 3,020 2,943 14.0
Business management and administration 1,311 1,506 1,421 1,405 1,366 1,327 1,404 1,551 1,584 1,583 1,510 15.2
Communication 510 560 557 627 638 650 595 645 663 667 673 32.0
Non-S&E fields not elsewhere classified 757 772 784 775 725 706 735 827 796 770 760 0.4
Unknown field 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -100.0
Male 25,020 26,202 26,272 26,331 25,525 26,189 27,363 28,326 29,014 29,544 29,616 18.4
Life sciences 4,690 5,197 5,223 5,183 5,101 5,243 5,335 5,492 5,514 5,569 5,643 20.3
Agricultural sciences and natural resources 698 802 700 722 609 652 698 702 691 746 760 8.9
Biological and biomedical sciences 3,377 3,708 3,861 3,834 3,823 3,878 3,891 3,941 4,088 4,106 4,163 23.3
Health sciences 615 687 662 627 669 713 746 849 735 717 720 17.1
Physical sciences and earth sciences 3,321 3,447 3,505 3,533 3,379 3,629 3,684 3,717 3,969 3,930 4,286 29.1
Chemistry 1,551 1,486 1,479 1,490 1,440 1,508 1,521 1,497 1,642 1,594 1,713 10.4
Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 490 542 548 539 496 522 538 539 623 600 716 46.1
Physics and astronomy 1,280 1,419 1,478 1,504 1,443 1,599 1,625 1,681 1,704 1,736 1,857 45.1
Mathematics and computer sciences 2,074 2,307 2,353 2,327 2,409 2,456 2,638 2,792 2,913 2,877 2,998 44.6
Computer and information sciences 1,142 1,322 1,387 1,260 1,286 1,312 1,419 1,502 1,581 1,581 1,666 45.9
Mathematics and statistics 932 985 966 1,067 1,123 1,144 1,219 1,290 1,332 1,296 1,332 42.9
Psychology and social sciences 3,072 3,028 3,171 3,297 3,358 3,332 3,539 3,501 3,509 3,757 3,749 22.0
Psychology 936 941 999 991 1,032 1,003 1,040 997 1,063 1,057 1,138 21.6
Anthropology 203 196 189 195 201 223 187 188 195 185 171 -15.8
Economics 717 684 717 735 703 734 840 767 786 821 820 14.4
Political science and government 396 345 367 409 434 389 420 469 434 527 462 16.7
Sociology 216 216 235 263 250 254 230 259 247 284 259 19.9
Other social sciences 604 646 664 704 738 729 822 821 784 883 899 48.8
Engineering 5,729 6,141 6,168 6,006 5,829 6,242 6,565 6,946 7,403 7,581 7,277 27.0
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 212 236 238 255 215 228 268 293 330 308 313 47.6
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 345 412 477 525 509 563 608 684 660 700 687 99.1
Chemical engineering 583 620 641 591 574 566 583 566 682 685 626 7.4
Civil engineering 538 538 568 559 473 486 388 417 465 457 438 -18.6
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 1,535 1,662 1,568 1,433 1,462 1,579 1,594 1,616 1,615 1,705 1,532 -0.2
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 167 201 201 186 159 180 164 176 209 154 185 10.8
Materials science engineering 430 482 482 466 495 496 556 598 618 648 723 68.1
Mechanical engineering 901 940 930 942 858 934 1,042 1,081 1,126 1,265 1,097 21.8
Other engineering 1,018 1,050 1,063 1,049 1,084 1,210 1,362 1,515 1,698 1,659 1,676 64.6
Education 2,130 2,103 2,158 2,161 1,661 1,432 1,500 1,570 1,468 1,605 1,550 -27.2
Education administration 839 805 892 838 547 349 389 372 371 344 306 -63.5
Education research 866 816 763 819 706 699 761 826 723 849 719 -17.0
Teacher education 63 72 58 92 59 38 43 22 35 36 43 -31.7
Teaching fields 248 281 289 275 233 250 229 275 265 294 315 27.0
Other education 114 129 156 137 116 96 78 75 74 82 167 46.5
Humanities and arts 2,680 2,605 2,308 2,404 2,462 2,572 2,742 2,829 2,760 2,763 2,639 -1.5
Foreign languages and literature 235 237 220 224 218 248 238 271 248 238 228 -3.0
History 575 553 561 608 556 586 603 632 664 632 621 8.0
Letters 618 569 527 524 625 615 659 665 657 647 600 -2.9
Other humanities and arts 1,252 1,246 1,000 1,048 1,063 1,123 1,242 1,261 1,191 1,246 1,190 -5.0
Otherb 1,324 1,374 1,386 1,420 1,326 1,283 1,360 1,479 1,478 1,462 1,474 11.3
Business management and administration 798 863 861 872 814 792 837 909 909 935 933 16.9
Communication 220 209 232 263 247 233 244 244 277 256 261 18.6
Non-S&E fields not elsewhere classified 305 302 293 285 265 258 279 326 292 271 280 -8.2
Unknown field 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -100.0
Female 20,559 21,904 22,494 23,187 22,488 22,700 23,527 24,366 24,816 25,358 25,278 23.0
Life sciences 5,006 5,497 5,859 6,210 6,213 6,289 6,614 6,713 6,930 6,933 6,923 38.3
Agricultural sciences and natural resources 448 516 498 559 490 554 554 622 646 688 624 39.3
Biological and biomedical sciences 3,271 3,529 3,934 4,185 4,219 4,272 4,422 4,411 4,747 4,685 4,720 44.3
Health sciences 1,287 1,452 1,427 1,466 1,504 1,463 1,638 1,680 1,537 1,560 1,579 22.7
Physical sciences and earth sciences 1,360 1,508 1,440 1,618 1,615 1,640 1,730 1,864 1,924 1,987 1,963 44.3
Chemistry 810 832 767 895 864 922 894 985 1,021 1,074 991 22.3
Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 266 333 316 338 366 330 403 449 475 457 510 91.7
Physics and astronomy 284 343 357 385 385 388 433 430 428 456 462 62.7
Mathematics and computer sciences 704 734 833 832 814 813 855 868 934 939 959 36.2
Computer and information sciences 311 332 400 349 347 353 374 341 400 422 419 34.7
Mathematics and statistics 393 402 433 483 467 460 481 527 534 517 540 37.4
Psychology and social sciences 4,154 4,278 4,464 4,646 4,524 4,888 4,955 5,077 5,220 5,322 5,329 28.3
Psychology 2,322 2,335 2,358 2,481 2,389 2,573 2,558 2,594 2,648 2,722 2,808 20.9
Anthropology 269 316 294 308 306 330 360 362 329 307 289 7.4
Economics 310 319 374 382 369 387 402 416 404 434 418 34.8
Political science and government 220 242 261 272 294 296 303 333 342 332 283 28.6
Sociology 363 360 366 399 389 403 402 377 432 458 356 -1.9
Other social sciences 670 706 811 804 777 899 930 995 1,065 1,069 1,175 75.4
Engineering 1,452 1,605 1,693 1,631 1,746 1,782 1,887 2,052 2,184 2,297 2,192 51.0
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 25 31 28 41 37 34 39 55 55 53 56 124.0
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 179 225 285 308 315 335 335 355 384 427 402 124.6
Chemical engineering 216 197 232 216 248 256 256 258 290 317 297 37.5
Civil engineering 117 165 145 148 169 147 106 125 147 175 127 8.5
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 250 304 319 260 315 301 336 279 325 293 295 18.0
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 67 78 79 65 55 78 62 65 89 89 71 6.0
Materials science engineering 152 164 154 159 175 166 184 217 211 223 262 72.4
Mechanical engineering 144 131 152 152 125 150 177 196 197 201 202 40.3
Other engineering 302 310 299 282 307 315 392 502 486 519 480 58.9
Education 3,985 4,344 4,402 4,366 3,624 3,234 3,299 3,364 3,311 3,492 3,603 -9.6
Education administration 1,211 1,356 1,346 1,308 892 574 665 593 522 576 523 -56.8
Education research 1,884 1,854 1,876 1,844 1,736 1,736 1,808 1,877 1,828 1,922 1,667 -11.5
Teacher education 186 225 216 240 186 166 113 87 117 120 138 -25.8
Teaching fields 457 592 623 630 566 555 527 617 649 659 852 86.4
Other education 247 317 341 344 244 203 186 190 195 215 423 71.3
Humanities and arts 2,647 2,478 2,428 2,499 2,552 2,654 2,818 2,885 2,760 2,830 2,843 7.4
Foreign languages and literature 379 370 407 374 382 396 446 430 424 418 371 -2.1
History 398 384 410 437 449 479 484 516 521 514 526 32.2
Letters 839 771 893 888 891 898 978 941 894 936 933 11.2
Other humanities and arts 1,031 953 718 800 830 881 910 998 921 962 1,013 -1.7
Otherb 1,251 1,460 1,375 1,385 1,400 1,400 1,369 1,543 1,553 1,558 1,466 17.2
Business management and administration 507 638 560 533 550 535 564 641 669 648 576 13.6
Communication 290 351 325 364 390 417 350 401 383 411 410 41.4
Non-S&E fields not elsewhere classified 451 468 490 488 460 448 455 501 501 499 480 6.4
Unknown field 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -100.0
S&E = science and engineering.
a Includes respondents who did not report sex.
b Non-science and engineering fields.
NOTE: See table A-6 in the technical notes for a listing of major fields and their constituent subfields.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates.