Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 295. Statistical profile of persons receiving doctor's degrees, by field of study and selected characteristics: 2002-03
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                        |       |                             Field of study
                                        |       |_______________________________________________________________________________
                                        |       |      |       |      |        |Physical sciences\1\|Business|    Social|  Other
                                        |       |      |       |      |        |____________________|     and|  sciences|profes-
                                        |    All|Educa-|  Engi-|Human-|    Life|          |   Mathe-| manage-|       and| sional
Selected characteristic                 | fields|  tion|neering| ities|sciences|     Total|   matics|    ment|psychology| fields
________________________________________|_______|______|_______|______|________|__________|_________|________|__________|_______
1                                       |      2|     3|      4|     5|       6|         7|        8|       9|        10|     11
________________________________________|_______|______|_______|______|________|__________|_________|________|__________|_______
     Doctor's degrees conferred, total .| 40,707| 6,627|  5,265| 5,412|   8,369|     5,963|      994|   1,035|     6,777|  1,259
                                        |_______|______|_______|______|________|__________|_________|________|__________|_______
Sex (percent)                           |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
  Male .................................|   54.7|  33.9|   82.9|  49.2|    51.7|      73.3|     73.4|    65.8|      44.6|   46.2
  Female ...............................|   45.3|  66.1|   17.1|  50.8|    48.3|      26.7|     26.6|    34.2|      55.4|   53.8
                                        |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
Racial/ethnic group (percent)\2\        |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
  White, non-Hispanic ..................|   80.0|  76.3|   74.7|  84.6|    80.1|      82.6|     82.7|    75.3|      81.4|   75.9
  Black, non-Hispanic ..................|    6.7|  14.0|    3.6|   3.9|     3.7|       3.3|      3.3|    10.8|       6.6|   12.2
  Hispanic .............................|    5.3|   6.2|    4.9|   6.3|     4.4|       3.6|      3.3|     5.1|       6.0|    3.6
  Asian\3\ .............................|    7.5|   2.8|   16.3|   4.7|    11.4|      10.3|     10.4|     8.6|       5.3|    7.0
  American Indian/Alaska Native ........|    0.5|   0.7|    0.5|   0.4|     0.3|       0.2|      0.4|     0.2|       0.7|    1.3
                                        |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
Citizenship (percent)                   |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
  United States ........................|   64.9|  83.0|   36.0|  76.3|    64.9|      52.7|     47.3|    53.7|      73.0|   64.3
  Non-U.S., permanent visa .............|    4.0|   2.0|    5.0|   4.8|     4.4|       4.9|      4.6|     5.3|       3.1|    4.2
  Non-U.S., temporary visa .............|   26.0|   8.8|   55.3|  14.4|    26.2|      38.1|     44.3|    34.3|      17.7|   23.3
  Unknown ..............................|    5.1|   6.2|    3.7|   4.5|     4.6|       4.3|      3.8|     6.7|       6.2|    8.2
                                        |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
Median age at doctorate (years) ........|   33.3|  43.5|   31.4|  34.6|    31.8|      30.6|     30.3|    36.6|      33.1|   38.2
                                        |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
Percent with bachelor's degree in       |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
   same field as doctorate .............|   52.4|  31.0|   74.4|  60.2|    47.8|      65.3|     71.2|    32.2|      52.2|   28.4
                                        |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
Median time lapse from bachelor's       |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
   to doctorate (years)                 |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
  Total time ...........................|   10.1|  18.2|    8.6|  11.3|     8.8|       7.9|      7.9|    12.7|      10.0|   14.4
  Registered time ......................|    7.5|   8.3|    6.9|   9.0|     7.0|       6.8|      6.8|     7.9|       7.8|    8.8
                                        |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
Postdoctoral plans (percent)            |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
  Postdoctoral study plans .............|   29.2|   6.4|   30.2|  10.4|    56.4|      46.4|     39.6|     4.5|      24.5|    8.8
    Fellowship .........................|   15.4|   2.5|   10.2|   6.5|    33.1|      20.9|     23.2|     1.6|      16.8|    3.4
    Research associateship .............|   10.6|   2.1|   17.6|   1.2|    16.6|      23.6|     14.1|     1.8|       4.9|    3.5
    Traineeship ........................|    1.1|   0.4|    1.1|   0.5|     2.4|       0.7|      1.3|     0.1|       1.3|    0.7
    Other ..............................|    2.1|   1.4|    1.3|   2.3|     4.3|       1.1|      1.0|     1.0|       1.5|    1.2
  Postdoctoral employment ..............|   60.6|  79.5|   61.6|  79.9|    35.7|      45.4|     52.8|    79.7|      63.6|   77.9
    Educational institution\4\ .........|   36.6|  65.4|   16.5|  62.9|    17.3|      18.3|     33.4|    65.1|      35.8|   52.8
    Industry, business .................|   13.1|   4.3|   35.5|   5.9|     9.1|      19.8|     12.6|    10.5|      10.5|    8.2
    Government .........................|    4.4|   3.4|    6.2|   1.2|     4.6|       4.1|      3.1|     2.2|       6.7|    5.3
    Nonprofit organization .............|    3.3|   3.6|    1.1|   4.5|     2.6|       1.0|      0.8|     0.8|       6.0|    8.2
    Other and unknown ..................|    3.2|   2.8|    2.3|   5.4|     2.2|       2.3|      2.9|     1.1|       4.6|    3.4
  Postdoctoral plans unknown ...........|   10.3|  14.1|    8.3|   9.7|     7.9|       8.2|      7.5|    15.7|      11.8|   13.3
                                        |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
Primary postdoctoral activity           |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
   (percent)\5,6\                       |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
  Research and development .............|   29.8|   6.3|   65.3|   8.0|    40.9|      57.6|     37.8|    41.3|      32.2|   15.3
  Teaching .............................|   41.2|  40.8|   17.2|  77.0|    32.9|      29.1|     53.0|    44.5|      35.0|   53.0
  Administration .......................|   13.3|  39.9|    2.6|   5.5|     6.8|       2.3|      1.1|     5.7|       6.3|   13.9
  Professional services ................|   11.9|  10.7|   10.1|   4.8|    15.0|       7.1|      6.1|     5.4|      22.6|   14.0
  Other ................................|    3.8|   2.3|    4.8|   4.7|     4.4|       3.9|      1.9|     3.1|       3.9|    3.9
                                        |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
Region of employment after doctorate    |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
   (percent)                            |       |      |       |      |        |          |         |        |          |
  New England ..........................|    6.3|   5.1|    5.4|   7.7|     6.4|       7.2|      7.0|     7.3|       6.6|    4.9
  Middle Atlantic ......................|   13.7|  12.0|   11.9|  16.9|    10.3|      16.5|     16.2|    14.0|      14.8|   12.8
  East North Central ...................|   13.0|  14.7|   11.1|  13.5|    11.3|      12.1|     14.8|    15.1|      12.1|   15.2
  West North Central ...................|    6.0|   8.2|    3.2|   6.8|     6.4|       4.7|      4.9|     5.1|       5.3|    5.8
  South Atlantic .......................|   17.6|  21.8|   12.4|  15.5|    17.1|      16.3|     17.0|    14.7|      19.4|   17.1
  East South Central ...................|    4.6|   6.8|    2.9|   5.5|     4.8|       2.9|      3.8|     4.4|       3.1|    5.2
  West South Central ...................|    8.5|   9.4|    8.4|   8.2|     8.3|       9.3|      8.1|     9.1|       7.2|    9.3
  Mountain .............................|    5.7|   6.7|    7.2|   4.8|     6.1|       5.3|      3.8|     6.7|       4.6|    4.0
  Pacific and insular ..................|   13.2|   9.4|   18.8|  13.3|    12.3|      16.6|     12.1|    10.3|      14.0|   11.5
  Foreign ..............................|   11.0|   5.6|   18.3|   7.5|    16.8|       8.9|     12.1|    13.0|      12.7|   13.9
  Region unknown .......................|    0.2|   0.2|    0.4|   0.2|     0.1|       0.3|      0.3|     0.3|       0.2|    0.3
________________________________________|_______|______|_______|______|________|__________|_________|________|__________|_______
\1\Includes mathematics, computer science, physics and astronomy, chemistry, and earth, atmospheric, and marine sciences.
\2\Distribution by race/ethnicity based on U.S. citizens and those with permanent visas only.
\3\Does not include Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders.
\4\Includes 2-year, 4-year, and foreign colleges and universities, medical schools, and elementary/secondary schools.
\5\Includes only recipients with definite employment plans.
\6\Percentages are based upon only those doctorate recipients who indicated their primary work activity.
NOTE: The above classification of degrees by field differs somewhat from that in most publications of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The major differences are that history is included under humanities rather than social sciences and that psychology is included under social sciences. Includes Ph.D., Ed.D., and comparable degrees at the doctoral level. Excludes first-professional degrees, such as M.D., D.D.S., and D.V.M. The number of degrees also differs slightly from that reported in the NCES "Completions" survey. The above tabulation excludes some non-research doctoral degrees such as doctor's degrees in theology. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities, 2003, Survey of Earned Doctorates, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Education, National Endowment for the Humanities, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (This table was prepared May 2005.)


2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest