Table 16. Doctorate recipients, by subfield of study and sex: 2016
Subfield of study |
Totala |
Male |
Female |
% female |
All fields |
54,904 |
29,616 |
25,278 |
46.0 |
Life sciences |
12,568 |
5,643 |
6,923 |
55.1 |
Agricultural sciences and natural resources |
1,385 |
760 |
624 |
45.1 |
Agricultural economics |
113 |
72 |
40 |
35.4 |
Agronomy, horticulture science, plant breeding, plant pathology, plant sciences-other |
303 |
180 |
123 |
40.6 |
Animal nutrition, poultry science |
63 |
40 |
23 |
36.5 |
Animal sciences, other |
83 |
38 |
45 |
54.2 |
Environmental science |
193 |
88 |
105 |
54.4 |
Fishing and fisheries sciences and management |
47 |
26 |
21 |
44.7 |
Food science, food technology-other |
163 |
75 |
88 |
54.0 |
Forest biology, forest management, wood science, forestry sciences- other |
87 |
62 |
25 |
28.7 |
Natural resource and environmental policy |
68 |
36 |
32 |
47.1 |
Natural resources and conservation, wildlife and range management |
86 |
46 |
40 |
46.5 |
Soil chemistry, soil sciences-other |
61 |
27 |
34 |
55.7 |
Agricultural sciences, aggregated |
118 |
70 |
48 |
40.7 |
Biological and biomedical sciences |
8,884 |
4,163 |
4,720 |
53.1 |
Anatomy, developmental biology |
183 |
84 |
99 |
54.1 |
Bacteriology, parasitology |
38 |
16 |
22 |
57.9 |
Biochemistry (biological sciences) |
834 |
411 |
423 |
50.7 |
Bioinformatics |
194 |
128 |
66 |
34.0 |
Biomedical sciences |
331 |
140 |
191 |
57.7 |
Biometrics and biostatistics |
198 |
107 |
91 |
46.0 |
Biophysics (biological sciences) |
165 |
115 |
50 |
30.3 |
Botany, plant pathology, plant physiology |
138 |
83 |
55 |
39.9 |
Cancer biology |
439 |
179 |
260 |
59.2 |
Cell, cellular biology, and histology |
261 |
120 |
141 |
54.0 |
Computational biology |
133 |
98 |
35 |
26.3 |
Ecology |
482 |
230 |
251 |
52.1 |
Endocrinology, human/animal pathology |
60 |
29 |
31 |
51.7 |
Entomology |
127 |
70 |
57 |
44.9 |
Environmental toxicology, toxicology |
130 |
63 |
67 |
51.5 |
Epidemiology |
343 |
92 |
251 |
73.2 |
Evolutionary biology |
200 |
117 |
83 |
41.5 |
Genetics-human/animal, plant genetics |
405 |
174 |
231 |
57.0 |
Immunology |
402 |
192 |
210 |
52.2 |
Microbiology |
467 |
204 |
263 |
56.3 |
Molecular biology, medicine |
574 |
260 |
314 |
54.7 |
Neurosciences, neurobiology |
997 |
485 |
512 |
51.4 |
Nutrition sciences |
204 |
46 |
158 |
77.5 |
Pharmacology, human and animal |
208 |
92 |
116 |
55.8 |
Physiology, human and animal |
167 |
82 |
85 |
50.9 |
Structural biology |
47 |
27 |
20 |
42.6 |
Virology |
141 |
69 |
72 |
51.1 |
Wildlife biology |
47 |
24 |
23 |
48.9 |
Zoology |
38 |
17 |
21 |
55.3 |
Biological and biomedical sciences, general |
773 |
335 |
438 |
56.7 |
Biotechnology, biology/biomedical sciences-other |
158 |
74 |
84 |
53.2 |
Health sciences |
2,299 |
720 |
1,579 |
68.7 |
Environmental health, public health |
455 |
114 |
341 |
74.9 |
Health and behavior |
119 |
19 |
100 |
84.0 |
Health services research |
121 |
36 |
85 |
70.2 |
Health systems administration |
41 |
15 |
26 |
63.4 |
Kinesiology, exercise science |
232 |
148 |
84 |
36.2 |
Medical physics, radiological science |
94 |
62 |
32 |
34.0 |
Nursing science |
481 |
36 |
445 |
92.5 |
Pharmaceutical sciences |
274 |
145 |
129 |
47.1 |
Rehabilitation, therapeutic services |
108 |
44 |
64 |
59.3 |
Speech-language pathology and audiology |
115 |
19 |
96 |
83.5 |
Health sciences, aggregated |
259 |
82 |
177 |
68.3 |
Physical sciences and earth sciences |
6,252 |
4,286 |
1,963 |
31.4 |
Chemistry |
2,704 |
1,713 |
991 |
36.6 |
Analytical chemistry |
392 |
216 |
176 |
44.9 |
Chemical biology |
120 |
66 |
54 |
45.0 |
Inorganic chemistry |
343 |
223 |
120 |
35.0 |
Medicinal chemistry |
72 |
48 |
24 |
33.3 |
Organic chemistry |
564 |
387 |
177 |
31.4 |
Physical chemistry |
379 |
254 |
125 |
33.0 |
Polymer chemistry |
148 |
108 |
40 |
27.0 |
Theoretical chemistry |
88 |
63 |
25 |
28.4 |
Chemistry, general |
417 |
256 |
161 |
38.6 |
Chemistry, other |
181 |
92 |
89 |
49.2 |
Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences |
1,227 |
716 |
510 |
41.6 |
Atmospheric science and meteorology |
245 |
150 |
95 |
38.8 |
Atmospheric physics, meteorology |
78 |
52 |
26 |
33.3 |
Atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric sciences-general, atmospheric sciences-other |
167 |
98 |
69 |
41.3 |
Geological sciences |
617 |
369 |
247 |
40.0 |
Geochemistry, mineralogy |
87 |
44 |
43 |
49.4 |
Geology |
127 |
78 |
49 |
38.6 |
Geomorphology, geological sciences-general, geological sciences-other |
223 |
122 |
101 |
45.3 |
Geophysics and seismology |
138 |
101 |
36 |
26.1 |
Paleontology, stratigraphy |
42 |
24 |
18 |
42.9 |
Ocean and marine sciences |
365 |
197 |
168 |
46.0 |
Marine biology and biological oceanography |
90 |
33 |
57 |
63.3 |
Oceanography, chemical and physical |
79 |
48 |
31 |
39.2 |
Ocean/marine sciences, aggregated |
196 |
116 |
80 |
40.8 |
Physics and astronomy |
2,321 |
1,857 |
462 |
19.9 |
Astronomy and astrophysics |
315 |
218 |
97 |
30.8 |
Astronomy |
95 |
61 |
34 |
35.8 |
Astrophysics |
211 |
150 |
61 |
28.9 |
Astronomy and astrophysics, other |
9 |
7 |
2 |
22.2 |
Physics |
2,006 |
1,639 |
365 |
18.2 |
Acoustics, optics/photonics |
242 |
205 |
37 |
15.3 |
Applied physics |
229 |
180 |
49 |
21.4 |
Atomic physics, polymer physics |
180 |
146 |
34 |
18.9 |
Biophysics (physics) |
138 |
112 |
26 |
18.8 |
Condensed matter, low-temperature physics |
350 |
303 |
47 |
13.4 |
Elementary particle physics |
231 |
189 |
42 |
18.2 |
Nuclear physics |
92 |
75 |
17 |
18.5 |
Plasma, high-temperature physics |
79 |
68 |
11 |
13.9 |
Physics, general |
356 |
275 |
79 |
22.2 |
Physics, other |
109 |
86 |
23 |
21.1 |
Mathematics and computer sciences |
3,957 |
2,998 |
959 |
24.2 |
Computer and information sciences |
2,085 |
1,666 |
419 |
20.1 |
Computer science |
1,651 |
1,363 |
288 |
17.4 |
Information science, systems |
175 |
121 |
54 |
30.9 |
Computer and information sciences, general |
161 |
116 |
45 |
28.0 |
Computer and information sciences, other |
98 |
66 |
32 |
32.7 |
Mathematics and statistics |
1,872 |
1,332 |
540 |
28.8 |
Algebra |
83 |
64 |
19 |
22.9 |
Analysis and functional analysis |
97 |
72 |
25 |
25.8 |
Applied mathematics, computing theory |
488 |
348 |
140 |
28.7 |
Geometry, geometric analysis |
52 |
46 |
6 |
11.5 |
Logic, topology/foundations |
55 |
42 |
13 |
23.6 |
Number theory |
48 |
34 |
14 |
29.2 |
Operations research, mathematics/statistics-general, mathematics/statistics-other |
784 |
568 |
216 |
27.6 |
Statistics (mathematics) |
265 |
158 |
107 |
40.4 |
Psychology and social sciences |
9,078 |
3,749 |
5,329 |
58.7 |
Psychology |
3,946 |
1,138 |
2,808 |
71.2 |
Behavioral analysis |
65 |
26 |
39 |
60.0 |
Clinical psychology |
1,224 |
286 |
938 |
76.6 |
Cognitive neuroscience |
162 |
71 |
91 |
56.2 |
Cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics |
165 |
70 |
95 |
57.6 |
Community psychology |
34 |
9 |
25 |
73.5 |
Counseling |
316 |
84 |
232 |
73.4 |
Developmental and child psychology |
236 |
40 |
196 |
83.1 |
Educational psychology (psychology) |
108 |
26 |
82 |
75.9 |
Experimental psychology |
144 |
64 |
80 |
55.6 |
Family psychology, human development and family studies |
204 |
53 |
151 |
74.0 |
Health, medical psychology |
53 |
15 |
38 |
71.7 |
Industrial and organizational psychology |
217 |
91 |
126 |
58.1 |
Marriage and family therapy, counseling |
77 |
21 |
56 |
72.7 |
Neuropsychology, physiological psychology |
69 |
23 |
46 |
66.7 |
School psychology (psychology) |
129 |
21 |
108 |
83.7 |
Social psychology |
219 |
87 |
132 |
60.3 |
Psychology, general |
302 |
92 |
210 |
69.5 |
Psychology, aggregated |
222 |
59 |
163 |
73.4 |
Social sciences |
5,132 |
2,611 |
2,521 |
49.1 |
Anthropology |
460 |
171 |
289 |
62.8 |
Anthropology, cultural |
290 |
109 |
181 |
62.4 |
Anthropology, physical and biological |
80 |
26 |
54 |
67.5 |
Anthropology, general |
90 |
36 |
54 |
60.0 |
Economics |
1,238 |
820 |
418 |
33.8 |
Econometrics, economics |
1,179 |
777 |
402 |
34.1 |
Natural resources and environmental economics (social sciences) |
59 |
43 |
16 |
27.1 |
Political science and government |
745 |
462 |
283 |
38.0 |
Sociology |
615 |
259 |
356 |
57.9 |
Other social sciences |
2,074 |
899 |
1,175 |
56.7 |
American, U.S. studies |
111 |
44 |
67 |
60.4 |
Applied linguistics |
81 |
26 |
55 |
67.9 |
Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender studies |
261 |
85 |
176 |
67.4 |
Criminal justice and corrections |
93 |
46 |
47 |
50.5 |
Criminology |
104 |
48 |
56 |
53.8 |
Demography, gerontology, statistics, urban affairs, social sciences- general, social sciences-other |
382 |
156 |
226 |
59.2 |
Geography |
246 |
139 |
107 |
43.5 |
Health policy analysis |
61 |
18 |
43 |
70.5 |
International relations, international affairs |
137 |
80 |
57 |
41.6 |
Linguistics |
237 |
93 |
144 |
60.8 |
Public policy analysis |
230 |
103 |
127 |
55.2 |
Urban, city, community and regional planning |
131 |
61 |
70 |
53.4 |
Engineering |
9,469 |
7,277 |
2,192 |
23.1 |
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering |
369 |
313 |
56 |
15.2 |
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering |
1,089 |
687 |
402 |
36.9 |
Chemical engineering |
923 |
626 |
297 |
32.2 |
Civil engineering |
565 |
438 |
127 |
22.5 |
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering |
1,827 |
1,532 |
295 |
16.1 |
Industrial and manufacturing engineering |
256 |
185 |
71 |
27.7 |
Materials science engineering |
985 |
723 |
262 |
26.6 |
Mechanical engineering |
1,299 |
1,097 |
202 |
15.6 |
Other engineering |
2,156 |
1,676 |
480 |
22.3 |
Computer engineering |
402 |
341 |
61 |
15.2 |
Environmental, environmental health engineering |
216 |
121 |
95 |
44.0 |
Nuclear engineering |
131 |
113 |
18 |
13.7 |
Robotics |
120 |
113 |
7 |
5.8 |
Structural engineering |
116 |
95 |
21 |
18.1 |
Systems engineering |
113 |
85 |
28 |
24.8 |
Other engineering, aggregated |
1,058 |
808 |
250 |
23.6 |
Education |
5,153 |
1,550 |
3,603 |
69.9 |
Education administration |
829 |
306 |
523 |
63.1 |
Educational administration and supervision |
148 |
57 |
91 |
61.5 |
Educational and human resource studies, development |
63 |
17 |
46 |
73.0 |
Educational leadership |
559 |
216 |
343 |
61.4 |
Urban education and leadership |
59 |
16 |
43 |
72.9 |
Education research |
2,386 |
719 |
1,667 |
69.9 |
Counseling education, counseling and guidance |
276 |
79 |
197 |
71.4 |
Curriculum and instruction |
380 |
97 |
283 |
74.5 |
Educational assessment, testing, measurement |
66 |
26 |
40 |
60.6 |
Educational policy analysis |
173 |
56 |
117 |
67.6 |
Educational psychology (education) |
220 |
51 |
169 |
76.8 |
Educational statistics, research methods |
76 |
29 |
47 |
61.8 |
Educational/instructional technology, media design |
250 |
103 |
147 |
58.8 |
Higher education evaluation and research |
451 |
171 |
280 |
62.1 |
International education |
57 |
15 |
42 |
73.7 |
School psychology (education) |
117 |
19 |
98 |
83.8 |
Social and philosophical foundations of education |
63 |
26 |
37 |
58.7 |
Special education |
257 |
47 |
210 |
81.7 |
Teacher education |
181 |
43 |
138 |
76.2 |
Teaching fields |
1,167 |
315 |
852 |
73.0 |
English as a second or foreign language |
70 |
18 |
52 |
74.3 |
Health education |
70 |
13 |
57 |
81.4 |
Literacy and reading education |
137 |
13 |
124 |
90.5 |
Mathematics education |
182 |
65 |
117 |
64.3 |
Music education |
87 |
42 |
45 |
51.7 |
Physical education and coaching |
38 |
20 |
18 |
47.4 |
Science education |
133 |
38 |
95 |
71.4 |
Teaching fields, aggregated |
450 |
106 |
344 |
76.4 |
Other education |
590 |
167 |
423 |
71.7 |
Education, general |
368 |
98 |
270 |
73.4 |
Other education, aggregated |
222 |
69 |
153 |
68.9 |
Humanities and arts |
5,484 |
2,639 |
2,843 |
51.8 |
Foreign languages and literature |
599 |
228 |
371 |
61.9 |
French, Italian |
141 |
43 |
98 |
69.5 |
Germanic language and literature |
67 |
29 |
38 |
56.7 |
Latin American languages and literature |
96 |
44 |
52 |
54.2 |
Spanish language and literature |
127 |
47 |
80 |
63.0 |
Other aggregated languages |
168 |
65 |
103 |
61.3 |
History |
1,147 |
621 |
526 |
45.9 |
American history, United States and Canada |
391 |
224 |
167 |
42.7 |
Asian history |
73 |
35 |
38 |
52.1 |
European history |
207 |
112 |
95 |
45.9 |
History, science and technology and society |
66 |
34 |
32 |
48.5 |
Latin American history |
77 |
32 |
45 |
58.4 |
Middle, Near East history |
62 |
39 |
23 |
37.1 |
History, general |
155 |
81 |
74 |
47.7 |
History, aggregated |
116 |
64 |
52 |
44.8 |
Letters |
1,533 |
600 |
933 |
60.9 |
American literature, United States and Canada |
342 |
133 |
209 |
61.1 |
Classics |
109 |
61 |
48 |
44.0 |
Comparative literature |
173 |
65 |
108 |
62.4 |
English language |
127 |
39 |
88 |
69.3 |
English literature, British and Commonwealth |
414 |
147 |
267 |
64.5 |
Rhetoric and composition |
212 |
71 |
141 |
66.5 |
Speech and rhetorical studies |
39 |
27 |
12 |
30.8 |
Letters, aggregated |
117 |
57 |
60 |
51.3 |
Other humanities and arts |
2,205 |
1,190 |
1,013 |
45.9 |
Archaeology (humanities) |
166 |
81 |
85 |
51.2 |
Art history, criticism, and conservation |
278 |
68 |
209 |
75.2 |
Drama, theater arts |
87 |
34 |
53 |
60.9 |
Film, cinema, video studies |
73 |
44 |
29 |
39.7 |
Music |
60 |
40 |
20 |
33.3 |
Musicology and ethnomusicology |
127 |
47 |
80 |
63.0 |
Music performance |
91 |
41 |
50 |
54.9 |
Music theory and composition |
92 |
68 |
24 |
26.1 |
Philosophy, ethics |
493 |
322 |
171 |
34.7 |
Religion/religious studies, Jewish/Judaic studies |
281 |
165 |
116 |
41.3 |
Theology, religious education |
212 |
157 |
54 |
25.5 |
Other humanities, aggregated |
245 |
123 |
122 |
49.8 |
Otherb |
2,943 |
1,474 |
1,466 |
49.8 |
Business management and administration |
1,510 |
933 |
576 |
38.1 |
Accounting |
177 |
102 |
75 |
42.4 |
Business administration and management |
263 |
167 |
96 |
36.5 |
Finance |
251 |
196 |
55 |
21.9 |
Human resources development |
197 |
98 |
99 |
50.3 |
Management information systems, business statistics |
107 |
81 |
25 |
23.4 |
Marketing management and research |
140 |
68 |
72 |
51.4 |
Other aggregated business fields |
375 |
221 |
154 |
41.1 |
Communication |
673 |
261 |
410 |
60.9 |
Communication research |
183 |
60 |
122 |
66.7 |
Mass communication, media studies |
211 |
92 |
119 |
56.4 |
Communication, general |
143 |
47 |
96 |
67.1 |
Communication, aggregated |
136 |
62 |
73 |
53.7 |
Non-S&E fields not elsewhere classified |
760 |
280 |
480 |
63.2 |
Architecture and environmental design |
99 |
47 |
52 |
52.5 |
Family, consumer sciences and human sciences |
39 |
8 |
31 |
79.5 |
Parks, sports, recreation, leisure and fitness |
83 |
45 |
38 |
45.8 |
Public administration |
143 |
70 |
73 |
51.0 |
Social work |
294 |
60 |
234 |
79.6 |
Fields not elsewhere classified, aggregated |
102 |
50 |
52 |
51.0 |