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Digest of Education Statistics
2003 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 304. Statistical profile of persons receiving doctor's degrees in the social sciences: Selected years, 1979-80 to 2000-01

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                                     |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |       |       |       |         |
                Item                 |1979-80|1980-81|1985-86|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94|1994-95| 1995-96 |1996-97|1997-98|1998-99|1999-2000|2000-01
                                     |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |       |       |       |         |
_____________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______
                  1                  |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |   8   |   9   |  10   |   11    |  12   |  13   |  14   |   15    |  16
_____________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______
     Number of doctorates ...........| 6,253 | 6,505 | 5,893 | 6,093 | 6,152 | 6,216 | 6,545 | 6,613 | 6,635 |   6,814 | 6,917 | 7,075 | 7,036 |   7,115 | 6,825
                                     |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______
Sex (percent)                        |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |       |       |       |         |
  Men ...............................|  65.4 |  64.4 |  57.6 |  53.7 |  50.6 |  52.6 |  50.7 |  50.6 |  49.2 |    48.4 |  47.3 |  45.5 |  45.5 |    45.4 |  45.6
  Women .............................|  34.6 |  35.6 |  42.4 |  46.3 |  49.4 |  47.4 |  49.3 |  49.4 |  50.8 |    51.6 |  52.7 |  54.5 |  54.5 |    54.6 |  54.4
Racial/ethnic group (percent)        |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |       |       |       |         |
  White, non-Hispanic ...............|  90.7 |  91.0 |  89.7 |  88.2 |  87.2 |  87.7 |  86.9 |  85.0 |  82.8 |    83.3 |  82.9 |   1.7 |  82.0 |    82.0 |  82.4
  Black, non-Hispanic ...............|   4.2 |   4.0 |   4.1 |   4.4 |   4.9 |   4.5 |   4.7 |   4.7 |   5.2 |     5.0 |   5.5 |   0.1 |   6.0 |     6.6 |   6.3
  Hispanic ..........................|   2.0 |   2.3 |   3.3 |   3.9 |   4.2 |   3.8 |   4.1 |   3.6 |   4.2 |     4.6 |   4.8 |   0.1 |   5.4 |     5.1 |   5.4
  Asian\1\ ..........................|   2.8 |   2.5 |   2.6 |   3.0 |   3.3 |   3.6 |   4.0 |   6.1 |   7.3 |     6.4 |   6.2 |   0.0 |   5.4 |     5.5 |   5.2
  American Indian/Alaska Native .....|   0.3 |   0.2 |   0.4 |   0.5 |   0.4 |   0.5 |   0.4 |   0.5 |   0.5 |     0.7 |   0.5 |   0.0 |   1.1 |     0.7 |   0.7
Citizenship (percent)                |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |       |       |       |         |
  United States .....................|  84.7 |  84.0 |  77.9 |  73.8 |  73.4 |  74.3 |  75.5 |  75.5 |  76.0 |    76.2 |  72.5 |  75.1 |  76.1 |    76.4 |  74.1
  Foreign ...........................|  11.6 |  11.9 |  15.3 |  18.0 |  19.8 |  21.2 |  21.3 |  21.7 |  21.4 |    20.7 |  17.8 |  17.1 |  17.5 |    18.1 |  19.3
  Unknown ...........................|   3.7 |   4.2 |   6.9 |   8.2 |   6.8 |   4.4 |   3.1 |   2.8 |   2.6 |     3.1 |   9.7 |   7.8 |   6.5 |     5.5 |   6.6
Median age at doctorate (years) .....|  31.6 |  32.0 |  33.4 |  34.2 |  34.1 |  34.3 |  34.3 |  34.1 |  34.1 |    33.7 |  33.4 |  33.2 |  33.2 |    33.0 |  32.9
Percent with bachelor's degree in    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |       |       |       |         |
  same field as doctorate ...........|  58.6 |  59.1 |  57.0 |  55.4 |  54.2 |  53.1 |  53.7 |  53.2 |  52.2 |    53.4 |  55.2 |  56.2 |  55.8 |    58.3 |  58.2
Median time lapse from bachelor's    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |       |       |       |         |
  to doctorate (years)               |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |       |       |       |         |
  Total time ........................|   8.7 |   9.0 |  10.0 |  10.6 |  10.5 |  10.6 |  10.4 |  10.5 |  10.5 |    10.3 |  10.0 |   9.9 |   9.9 |     9.8 |   9.7
  Registered time ...................|   6.4 |   6.5 |   7.2 |   7.5 |   7.5 |   7.5 |   7.5 |   7.5 |   7.5 |     7.4 |   7.5 |   7.5 |   7.5 |     7.5 |   7.6
_____________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______

\1\Does not include Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders.

NOTE: Longitudinal comparisons by race/ethnicity should be done with extreme care, due to periodic changes in the survey. In particular, large numbers of Asians converted from temporary visas to permanent visas in the mid 1990s. Distribution by race/ethnicity based on U.S. citizens and those with permanent visas only. The classification of degrees by field used in this survey 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 anthropology, area studies, criminology, demographic/population studies, economics, econometrics, geography, international relations/affairs, political science, public policy, psychology, sociology, statistics, and urban affairs/studies. The number of degrees also differs slightly from that reported in the NCES "Completions" survey. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

SOURCE: Survey of Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities, various years, sponsored by the 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 June 2003.)


2003 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest