Statistical profile of persons receiving doctor's degrees in the life sciences: 1979-80 to 1998-99

Table 306.

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                                  |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
                                  |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
               Item               |1979-80|1980-81|1985-86|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94|1994-95|1995-96|1996-97|1997-98|1998-99
                                  |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
__________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______
                1                 |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |   8   |   9   |  10   |  11   |  12   |  13   |  14   |  15   |  16
__________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______
     Number of doctorates ........| 5,325 | 5,461 | 5,734 | 6,164 | 6,342 | 6,605 | 6,933 | 7,115 | 7,395 | 7,739 | 7,918 | 8,255 | 8,213 | 8,540 | 8,126
                                  |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______
Sex (percent)                     |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  Men ............................|  74.8 |  73.6 |  66.0 |  63.2 |  61.8 |  62.6 |  61.4 |  60.7 |  58.3 |  58.4 |  57.9 |  56.5 |  55.0 |  54.5 |  55.3
  Women ..........................|  25.2 |  26.4 |  34.0 |  36.8 |  38.2 |  37.4 |  38.6 |  39.3 |  41.7 |  41.6 |  42.1 |  43.5 |  45.0 |  45.5 |  44.7
Racial/ethnic group (percent)     |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  American Indian ................|   0.2 |   0.2 |   0.5 |   0.4 |   0.3 |   0.2 |   0.4 |   0.4 |   0.3 |   0.4 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.3 |   0.4 |   0.5
  Asian ..........................|   5.3 |   4.8 |   4.9 |   5.0 |   5.3 |   5.6 |   6.6 |   7.1 |   8.7 |  15.7 |  18.5 |  17.9 |  15.3 |  13.6 |  13.4
  Black ..........................|   1.6 |   1.9 |   1.9 |   2.2 |   2.1 |   1.9 |   2.4 |   2.3 |   2.9 |   2.6 |   3.1 |   2.9 |   3.4 |   3.3 |   3.6
  Hispanic .......................|   1.1 |   1.4 |   2.1 |   2.3 |   2.1 |   2.7 |   2.6 |   2.8 |   3.0 |   3.2 |   3.0 |   3.1 |   3.5 |   4.1 |   4.0
  White ..........................|  91.8 |  91.7 |  90.5 |  90.0 |  90.1 |  89.6 |  88.0 |  87.3 |  85.1 |  78.2 |  74.9 |  75.5 |  77.5 |  78.5 |  78.5
Citizenship (percent)             |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  United States ..................|  80.4 |  80.3 |  75.9 |  71.3 |  71.1 |  68.0 |  66.8 |  65.7 |  65.3 |  64.0 |  63.1 |  60.7 |  62.0 |  61.9 |  63.0
  Foreign ........................|  17.6 |  17.1 |  18.8 |  22.2 |  22.1 |  26.3 |  29.1 |  31.8 |  32.6 |  34.9 |  35.2 |  37.0 |  31.7 |  31.4 |  33.4
  Unknown ........................|   2.0 |   2.6 |   5.3 |   6.4 |   6.9 |   5.6 |   4.0 |   2.5 |   2.2 |   1.1 |   1.7 |   2.2 |   6.3 |   6.7 |   3.6
Median age at doctorate (years) ..|  30.0 |  30.1 |  31.6 |  31.9 |  32.2 |  32.3 |  32.4 |  32.7 |  32.5 |  32.7 |  32.4 |  32.5 |  32.3 |  32.3 |  32.1
Percent with bachelor's degree in |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 same field as doctorate .........|  40.9 |  40.7 |  57.1 |  55.4 |  53.4 |  53.8 |  54.1 |  53.5 |  51.9 |  51.0 |  50.8 |  49.2 |  46.9 |  48.9 |  47.0
Median time lapse from bachelor's |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 to doctorate (years)             |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  Total time .....................|   7.3 |   7.3 |   8.7 |   8.9 |   9.1 |   9.1 |   9.1 |   9.4 |   9.4 |   9.5 |   9.5 |   9.6 |   9.2 |   9.1 |   9.0
  Registered time ................|   5.8 |   5.9 |   6.4 |   6.5 |   6.5 |   6.7 |   6.7 |   6.7 |   6.8 |   7.0 |   7.0 |   7.0 |   7.0 |   7.0 |   7.0
__________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______

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 convered 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 National Research Council's classification of degrees by field differs somewhat from that in most publications of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Includes agricultural, biological, and health sciences. 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: National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel, Doctorate Records File. (This table was prepared May 2001.)

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