Table 319.

Statistical profile of persons receiving doctor's degrees, by field of study and selected characteristics: 2004–05 and 2005–06

Selected characteristic	All fields, 2004–05	All fields	Field of study, 2005–06
			Business and manage-ment	Education	Engineering	Humanities	Life sciences	Physical sciences1		Social sciences and psychology	Other fields
								Total	Mathematics
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Number of doctor's degrees conferred	43,354	45,596	1,312	6,123	7,191	5,576	9,683	7,461	1,327	6,873	1,377
Sex (percent)2
Male	54.8	54.9	61.2	34.8	79.8	49.4	48.4	72.3	70.4	42.6	43.4
Female	45.2	45.1	38.8	65.2	20.2	50.6	51.6	27.7	29.6	57.4	56.6
Racial/ethnicity (percent)3
White	80.4	80.3	82.6	77.4	76.4	84.0	80.7	85.4	84.0	78.5	77.3
Black	6.5	6.3	8.1	12.3	4.2	4.1	4.6	2.2	3.0	6.7	9.8
Hispanic	5.0	5.2	3.6	5.7	4.7	5.3	4.4	3.6	4.3	6.8	6.2
Asian	5.8	5.9	4.1	2.5	12.4	3.9	8.1	7.0	6.5	5.1	4.0
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.5	0.4	0.9	0.7	0.1	0.6	0.3	0.2	#	0.5	0.5
Other4	1.8	1.9	0.7	1.3	2.2	2.2	1.9	1.6	2.2	2.4	2.3
Citizenship (percent)
United States	60.7	59.0	45.2	81.2	30.4	72.9	62.1	44.4	41.4	70.9	55.6
Non-U.S., permanent resident	3.7	4.0	5.3	2.2	4.2	4.8	4.4	4.6	5.0	3.4	4.4
Non-U.S., temporary visa holder	29.6	31.0	40.3	9.9	59.4	15.9	28.0	45.9	50.3	19.8	32.0
Unknown	6.0	6.0	9.1	6.7	6.0	6.4	5.5	5.0	3.3	5.9	8.1
Median age at doctorate (years)	33.0	32.7	35.2	41.7	30.8	35.0	31.4	30.3	30.0	32.9	36.2
Percent with bachelor's degree in same field as doctorate	52.7	53.8	34.9	29.8	75.7	53.9	48.9	65.1	69.9	55.0	33.2
Median time lapse (years) to doctorate
Since bachelor's degree completion	9.9	9.5	11.8	16.7	8.1	11.5	8.6	7.7	7.3	9.6	12.5
Since starting graduate school	8.2	7.9	9.2	12.7	6.9	9.7	7.0	6.7	6.7	7.9	9.9
Postdoctoral plans (percent)5
Definite postdoctoral study6	24.7	23.7	3.8	3.5	19.2	7.4	45.1	37.3	33.4	21.3	4.3
Fellowship	—	13.0	1.8	1.3	6.8	5.3	27.0	17.7	20.4	14.9	2.1
Research associateship	—	8.6	1.2	1.3	11.3	0.9	12.5	18.7	12.3	4.2	1.5
Traineeship	—	0.3	‡	0.2	0.2	‡	0.7	0.3	0.5	0.2	‡
Intern, clinical residency	—	0.7	‡	0.1	0.3	‡	2.1	0.1	‡	1.4	‡
Other	—	1.2	0.4	0.6	0.7	0.9	3.0	0.5	‡	0.7	0.5
Definite postdoctoral employment7	44.9	46.3	78.2	69.3	45.8	57.6	24.8	34.5	41.8	51.6	71.3
Educational institution8	—	27.7	60.6	58.0	8.1	48.5	12.3	13.4	24.9	32.3	53.6
Industry, business	—	11.2	10.6	2.5	31.6	2.3	6.0	16.9	12.3	7.1	7.7
Government	—	3.0	2.6	2.8	3.0	1.3	3.2	2.0	2.2	5.4	3.5
Nonprofit organization	—	2.0	1.3	2.9	1.1	2.5	1.4	0.6	0.5	3.9	3.1
Other and unknown	—	2.4	3.2	3.1	2.0	3.0	1.8	1.6	1.9	3.0	3.4
Seeking employment or study	27.9	27.0	15.6	23.3	32.7	31.5	27.0	26.0	22.8	24.1	21.0
Other/unknown	2.5	3.0	2.5	3.9	2.3	3.5	3.1	2.1	2.0	2.9	3.4
Primary work activity after doctorate (percent)9
Research and development	34.0	36.7	42.4	9.9	74.9	12.7	41.9	61.5	45.3	35.4	31.5
Teaching	39.0	38.5	42.9	40.4	8.3	74.7	33.3	27.5	46.8	38.0	48.0
Administration	15.1	13.4	10.2	39.8	5.1	5.6	9.2	3.4	‡	7.8	12.2
Professional services	10.2	9.5	3.8	9.1	8.7	4.3	13.0	6.1	5.9	17.2	7.2
Other	1.6	1.9	0.7	0.8	3.0	2.7	2.5	1.4	‡	1.7	1.1
Region of employment after doctorate (percent)10
New England	6.0	5.9	5.9	3.2	6.0	7.2	6.6	7.3	6.1	6.9	5.0
Middle Atlantic	13.8	13.9	12.5	12.7	10.9	15.1	12.4	16.7	19.2	16.0	13.7
East North Central	13.0	12.8	12.8	15.7	11.2	13.8	12.0	10.7	14.2	12.0	12.9
West North Central	6.3	6.8	7.2	10.3	3.4	8.0	7.6	4.6	5.7	5.5	7.2
South Atlantic	17.3	17.3	18.9	19.4	12.5	17.4	18.8	14.8	19.0	19.6	18.4
East South Central	4.3	4.4	4.7	6.0	2.7	4.9	4.5	2.3	3.6	4.3	5.7
West South Central	8.3	8.2	9.1	9.8	8.6	7.4	8.6	6.5	5.4	7.0	9.4
Mountain	5.6	5.7	3.8	6.7	7.4	5.5	5.1	4.8	4.0	4.8	4.4
Pacific and insular	15.1	15.5	11.1	11.3	26.1	12.2	12.9	23.8	14.2	12.0	10.7
Foreign	10.4	9.4	13.7	4.9	11.0	8.5	11.4	8.4	8.6	11.7	12.5
Region unknown	#	#	0.1	#	#	#	#	#	#	0.1	0.1

— Not available. # Rounds to zero. ‡ Reporting standards not met. 1 Includes mathematics, computer science, physics and astronomy, chemistry, and earth, atmospheric, and marine sciences. 2 Distribution by sex based on respondents of known sex only. 3 Distribution by race/ethnicity based on U.S. citizens of known race only. 4 Includes Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders and those of more than one race. 5 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who responded to questions about postdoctoral plans. 6 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who indicated definite postdoc­toral plans for study and who indicated the type of study. 7 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who indicated definite postdoc­toral plans for employment and who indicated the sector of employment. 8 Includes 2-year, 4-year, and foreign colleges and universities, medical schools, and ele­mentary/secondary schools. 9 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who indicated definite postdoc­toral plans for employment and who indicated their primary work activity. 10 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who indicated definite postdoc­toral plans for employment. NOTE: The above classification of degrees by field differs somewhat from that in most pub­lications of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). One major difference is that history is included under humanities rather than 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 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The above tabula­tion excludes some nonresearch doctoral degrees such as doctor's degrees in theology. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. SOURCE: Doctorate Recipients From United States Universities, 2006, 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 July 2008.)