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Digest of Education Statistics
2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 474. Percentage of graduate degrees awarded in mathematics, science, and engineering, by field of study and country: Selected years, 1990 through 2009
Country All mathematics, science, and engineering degrees1 Natural sciences2 Mathematics and computer science3 Engineering
1990 1996 2000 2005 2008 2009 1990 1996 2000 2005 2008 2009 1990 1996 2000 2005 2008 2009 1990 1996 2000 2005 2008 2009
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
OECD average4 28.5   24.7   23.3 22.6 11.1   8.9   7.4 6.9 5.4   4.9   5.0 4.2 12.7   11.4   11.2 11.7
Australia 14.0 15.2   20.0   18.8 18.9 5.4 4.0   3.1   3.1 3.0 3.8 4.9   8.7   8.3 7.6 4.7 6.3   8.1   7.5 8.3
Austria 37.7 38.8 39.2   38.6   31.8 33.4 12.3 17.5 16.7   15.0   7.5 7.6 4.6 4.7 4.7   6.6   11.3 10.8 20.8 16.6 17.7   16.9   13.0 14.9
Belgium 19.7   18.7   18.0 21.2   9.3   5.4 5.7   3.3   3.7 3.2 7.0   6.2   8.9 12.3
Canada 20.0 22.3 22.4   18.8   26.3 26.0 7.8 7.7 7.4   5.0   9.9 10.1 3.4 3.5 4.1   4.0   4.3 4.1 8.8 11.2 10.9   9.8   12.1 11.9
Chile   8.5   11.4 7.9   2.2   2.8 2.1   1.6   2.3 2.2   4.6   6.3 3.6
                                                                 
Czech Republic (5) 21.0   26.1   22.2 26.9 (5) 5.3   8.3   5.7 6.5 (5) 7.9   5.6   3.8 3.9 (5) 7.7   12.3   12.7 16.5
Denmark 22.2 12.3 27.8   23.4   21.3 23.3 5.8 3.1 9.8   7.5   5.9 5.7 4.8 1.5 2.5   9.2   7.6 7.9 11.6 7.8 15.4   6.7   7.8 9.7
Estonia (5)   23.9   28.6 27.3 (5)   10.0   8.2 8.3 (5)   5.0   7.7 5.7 (5)   8.9   12.6 13.3
Finland 30.6 28.3 28.7   30.5   31.7 34.3 14.7 11.6 11.3   11.6   12.5 5.8 5.4 4.0 2.4   4.1   4.0 3.7 10.5 12.7 14.9   14.8   15.2 24.8
France 26.4   28.4   28.8 28.0 13.5   12.5   10.8 11.0 5.6   7.0   6.8 6.7 7.3   8.9   11.2 10.3
                                                                 
Germany 33.2 38.6 38.1   30.9   33.7 32.2 23.5 25.5 24.9   14.8   15.1 14.7 2.3 3.5 3.7   4.8   6.3 6.1 7.4 9.5 9.5   11.3   12.3 11.4
Greece   42.8   33.0   22.3   6.2   5.3   11.0   15.2   15.7
Hungary 9.9   6.4   8.3 10.0 1.7   1.8   2.6 2.8 0.7   1.7   1.4 1.2 7.5   2.9   4.4 6.0
Iceland 35.9   23.0   10.6 12.7 19.4   9.5   5.8 4.6 #   3.0   1.1 0.9 16.5   10.5   3.7 7.2
Ireland 34.5 23.1 28.1   16.8   19.0 16.3 19.5 10.9 6.9   4.1   5.1 5.8 3.0 15.2   6.3   6.2 9.3 9.2 6.0   6.4   6.1 5.1
                                                                 
Israel 18.1   17.9   18.6 18.4 9.2   8.9   9.2 8.8 2.8   3.2   3.3 3.2 6.1   5.9   6.0 6.3
Italy 11.7   15.9   0.3   3.5   5.8   3.5   5.7   8.9  
Japan 54.4   50.9   47.1 46.8 9.5 10.2         45.1 44.4 41.9   38.0   34.7 34.7
Korea, Republic of 48.4   43.9   24.1 24.2 8.5   9.5   4.4 4.7 5.7   2.0   1.2 1.4 34.3   32.4   18.4 18.1
Mexico 31.4 6 14.7   12.1 12.1 18.9 6 3.3   2.9 2.9 4.1 6 3.2   3.3 2.3 8.4 6 8.2   5.9 6.9
                                                                 
Netherlands 28.9 18.6   21.3   14.6 15.1 17.7 4.4     1.5 3.7     9.7 10.6   11.9   7.6 7.9
New Zealand 22.6 16.7 20.5   16.6   18.5 20.1 13.8 12.7 11.6   7.2   9.1 9.6 4.7 1.1 1.4   5.2   4.1 4.6 4.0 3.0 7.5   4.2   5.3 5.9
Norway 33.4 38.3 22.0   25.8   22.2 19.1 8.0 8.7 14.9   7.8   6.1 2.1 1.9 4.6   11.9   10.8 23.3 27.7 2.5   6.1   5.3 4.3
Poland   9.1   11.1 11.5           3.5   5.0 6.5
Portugal 39.3 6 33.8   49.2 32.7 11.7 6 12.0   12.2 7.2 9.4 6 10.0   11.2 2.3 18.2 6 11.9   25.8 23.2
                                                                 
Slovak Republic (5) 38.1   36.8   28.0 25.4 (5) 12.6   10.8   6.3 5.3 (5) 4.7   4.2   2.2 3.7 (5) 20.9   21.8   19.6 16.5
Slovenia (5)   24.2   19.9 18.2 (5)   6.4   7.2 6.1 (5)   4.2   2.7 2.4 (5)   13.6   10.1 9.7
Spain 26.9 36.0   37.5 6 26.6 24.5 19.7 24.8 23.9 6 23.8 6 14.0 12.3 1.4 4.1 5.4 6 4.6 6 3.9 3.5 5.7 7.1 6.8 6 9.1 6 8.7 8.7
Sweden 48.5 32.3 40.5   23.7   28.1 32.0 19.4 9.2 14.3   8.0   8.5 8.3 9.2 5.9 4.0   2.8   4.0 5.2 19.9 17.1 22.2   12.9   15.6 18.5
Switzerland 30.2 40.1 42.7   32.0   28.9 29.5 22.0 25.8 11.7   11.7   12.4 12.5 1.7 4.1 19.5   3.4   3.1 3.9 6.5 10.1 11.6   16.9   13.3 13.1
                                                                 
Turkey 24.0 25.7   21.4   18.8 18.3 7.6 7.6   6.7   5.4 5.3 3.3 3.0   3.4   3.1 3.0 13.2 15.2   11.2   10.4 9.9
United Kingdom 21.7   20.3   20.3 20.4 7.4   5.5   5.5 5.8 5.0   5.7   5.2 4.8 9.2   9.0   9.7 9.8
United States 14.5 13.8 13.0   13.5   13.0 13.1 4.2 4.0 3.4   3.3   3.5 3.4 3.4 3.2 3.4   3.5   3.2 3.2 6.9 6.7 6.2   6.7   6.3 6.5
—Not available.  
#Rounds to zero.  
1 Includes life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics/statistics, computer science, and engineering.  
2 Includes life sciences and physical sciences.  
3 Includes mathematics/statistics and computer science.  
4 Refers to the mean of the data values for all reporting OECD countries, to which each country reporting data contributes equally. The average includes all current OECD countries for which a given year's data are available, even if they were not members of OECD in that year. However, if data were reported for less than 75 percent of the countries that were members of OECD in a given year, the average for that year is omitted.  
5 Country did not exist in its current form in the given year.  
6 Only includes doctor's (Ph.D.) degrees.  
NOTE: Data in this table refer to degrees classified by OECD as International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) level 5A, second award, and as ISCED 6. ISCED 5A, second award, corresponds to master's and first-professional degrees in the United States, and ISCED 6 corresponds to doctor's degrees. Data for Luxembourg are not shown because tertiary students study for only 1 year in Luxembourg. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.  
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Online Education Database; retrieved March 21, 2012, from http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx; and unpublished tabulations. (This table was prepared March 2012.)  

2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest