| Field of study | 1999–2000 | 2009–10 | 1999–2000 to 2009–10 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percent of total |
Number to females | Percent to females | Number | Percent of total |
Number to females | Percent to females | Change in number of degrees | Percent change | Percent change for females | |||
| Doctor's degrees2 Total1 |
118,736 | 100.0 | 53,806 | 45.3 | 158,558 | 100.0 | 81,953 | 51.7 | 39,822 | 33.5 | 52.3 | ||
| Health professions and related programs |
37,829 | 31.9 | 17,845 | 47.2 | 57,746 | 36.4 | 33,800 | 58.5 | 19,917 | 52.7 | 89.4 | ||
| Legal professions and studies | 38,226 | 32.2 | 17,539 | 45.9 | 44,626 | 28.1 | 21,074 | 47.2 | 6,400 | 16.7 | 20.2 | ||
| Education | 6,409 | 5.4 | 4,114 | 64.2 | 9,233 | 5.8 | 6,210 | 67.3 | 2,824 | 44.1 | 50.9 | ||
| Engineering and engineering technologies |
5,367 | 4.5 | 828 | 15.4 | 7,771 | 4.9 | 1,787 | 23.0 | 2,404 | 44.8 | 115.8 | ||
| Biological and biomedical sciences | 5,463 | 4.6 | 2,395 | 43.8 | 7,666 | 4.8 | 4,066 | 53.0 | 2,203 | 40.3 | 69.8 | ||
| Psychology | 4,731 | 4.0 | 3,202 | 67.7 | 5,540 | 3.5 | 4,062 | 73.3 | 809 | 17.1 | 26.9 | ||
| Physical sciences and science technologies |
4,017 | 3.4 | 1,015 | 25.3 | 5,063 | 3.2 | 1,659 | 32.8 | 1,046 | 26.0 | 63.4 | ||
| Social sciences and history | 4,095 | 3.4 | 1,688 | 41.2 | 4,238 | 2.7 | 1,946 | 45.9 | 143 | 3.5 | 15.3 | ||
| Business | 1,194 | 1.0 | 382 | 32.0 | 2,245 | 1.4 | 910 | 40.5 | 1,051 | 88.0 | 138.2 | ||
| Theology and religious vocations | 1,630 | 1.4 | 334 | 20.5 | 2,070 | 1.3 | 545 | 26.3 | 440 | 27.0 | 63.2 | ||
| Computer and information sciences |
779 | 0.7 | 131 | 16.8 | 1,599 | 1.0 | 349 | 21.8 | 820 | 105.3 | 166.4 | ||
| Visual and performing arts | 1,127 | 0.9 | 590 | 52.4 | 1,599 | 1.0 | 899 | 56.2 | 472 | 41.9 | 52.4 | ||
| Mathematics and statistics | 1,075 | 0.9 | 272 | 25.3 | 1,592 | 1.0 | 476 | 29.9 | 517 | 48.1 | 75.0 | ||
| English language and literature/letters |
1,470 | 1.2 | 859 | 58.4 | 1,332 | 0.8 | 810 | 60.8 | -138 | -9.4 | -5.7 | ||
| Agriculture and natural resources | 1,168 | 1.0 | 365 | 31.3 | 1,147 | 0.7 | 522 | 45.5 | -21 | -1.8 | 43.0 | ||
| Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics |
1,086 | 0.9 | 640 | 58.9 | 1,091 | 0.7 | 645 | 59.1 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | ||
| Public administration and social services |
537 | 0.5 | 310 | 57.7 | 838 | 0.5 | 515 | 61.5 | 301 | 56.1 | 66.1 | ||
| Philosophy and religious studies | 598 | 0.5 | 213 | 35.6 | 667 | 0.4 | 217 | 32.5 | 69 | 11.5 | 1.9 | ||
| Multi/interdisciplinary studies | 509 | 0.4 | 278 | 54.6 | 631 | 0.4 | 366 | 58.0 | 122 | 24.0 | 31.7 | ||
| Communication and communications technologies |
357 | 0.3 | 189 | 52.9 | 573 | 0.4 | 348 | 60.7 | 216 | 60.5 | 84.1 | ||
| 1 Includes other fields not shown separately. These 20 fields were selected out of 54 fields total because they were the top fields in which master’s or doctor’s degrees were awarded in 2009–10. In 2009–10, these selected fields awarded 96 percent of master's degrees, and 99 percent of doctor's degrees. | |||||||||||||
| 2 Includes Ph.D., Ed.D., and comparable degrees at the doctoral level. Includes most degrees formerly classified as first-professional, such as M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees. | |||||||||||||
| NOTE: Includes only institutions that participated in Title IV federal financial aid programs. The new Classification of Instructional Programs was initiated in 2009-10. The estimates for 1999–2000 have been reclassified when necessary to make them conform to the new taxonomy. For more information on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classification of institutions and degree levels, see Appendix C – Commonly Used Measures. For more information on IPEDS , see Appendix B – Guide to Sources. | |||||||||||||
| SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2000 and Fall 2010, Completions component. |
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