Table 301. | Statistical profile of persons receiving doctor's degrees, by field of study and selected characteristics: 2003–04 |
Selected characteristic | All fields | Field of study | ||||||||
Education | Engineering | Humanities | Life sciences | Physical sciences1 | Business and management | Social sciences and psychology | Other professional fields | |||
Total | Mathematics | |||||||||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
Doctor's degrees conferred, total | 42,155 | 6,635 | 5,776 | 5,467 | 8,819 | 6,049 | 1,075 | 1,264 | 6,795 | 1,347 |
Sex (percent) | ||||||||||
Male | 54.6 | 34.2 | 82.4 | 48.1 | 50.5 | 73.5 | 71.6 | 63.9 | 44.8 | 44.8 |
Female | 45.4 | 65.8 | 17.6 | 51.9 | 49.5 | 26.5 | 28.4 | 36.1 | 55.2 | 55.2 |
Racial/ethnic group (percent)2 | ||||||||||
White | 79.7 | 76.1 | 74.0 | 84.4 | 79.9 | 83.3 | 81.6 | 74.1 | 80.6 | 74.7 |
Black | 7.3 | 14.9 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 11.3 | 7.3 | 14.0 |
Hispanic | 4.8 | 5.1 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 4.1 |
Asian3 | 7.7 | 2.9 | 17.0 | 5.4 | 10.6 | 9.7 | 11.1 | 9.0 | 6.0 | 6.8 |
American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
Citizenship (percent) | ||||||||||
United States | 62.7 | 80.0 | 33.6 | 74.8 | 64.8 | 49.7 | 42.3 | 47.6 | 71.8 | 65.8 |
Non-U.S., permanent visa | 3.6 | 1.7 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 3.8 |
Non-U.S., temporary visa | 27.5 | 9.4 | 57.2 | 15.4 | 26.1 | 42.2 | 48.9 | 37.3 | 17.5 | 22.4 |
Unknown | 6.2 | 8.9 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 11.0 | 7.6 | 8.0 |
Median age at doctorate (years) | 33.3 | 43.1 | 31.4 | 35.0 | 31.7 | 30.6 | 30.4 | 35.8 | 33.1 | 38.0 |
Percent with bachelor's degree in same field as doctorate | 52.5 | 31.2 | 75.6 | 53.4 | 48.4 | 65.9 | 70.7 | 33.0 | 54.6 | 30.4 |
Median time lapse (years) to doctorate | ||||||||||
Since bachelor's degree completion | 10.0 | 17.7 | 8.4 | 11.7 | 8.7 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 12.1 | 9.8 | 13.9 |
Since starting graduate school | 8.0 | 12.7 | 7.2 | 9.7 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 9.7 | 7.9 | 10.4 |
Definite postdoctoral plans (percent) | ||||||||||
Definite postdoctoral study4 | 35.3 | 6.0 | 36.3 | 11.6 | 67.0 | 56.2 | 47.1 | 3.3 | 30.7 | 7.3 |
Fellowship | 18.7 | 2.2 | 12.4 | 8.2 | 37.9 | 26.6 | 27.5 | 1.4 | 21.4 | 2.6 |
Research associateship | 13.0 | 2.1 | 21.8 | 1.6 | 20.5 | 27.6 | 17.5 | 1.3 | 5.6 | 3.2 |
Traineeship | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.0 | ‡ | 0.8 | ‡ |
Intern, clinical residency | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 3.1 | 0.4 | ‡ | ‡ | 1.7 | ‡ |
Other | 1.8 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 4.4 | 1.1 | ‡ | ‡ | 1.2 | 1.4 |
Definite postdoctoral employment5 | 64.7 | 94.0 | 63.7 | 88.4 | 33.0 | 43.8 | 52.9 | 96.7 | 69.3 | 92.7 |
Educational institution6 | 43.4 | 81.2 | 17.0 | 77.3 | 18.3 | 20.7 | 39.6 | 79.1 | 44.5 | 67.5 |
Industry, business | 11.7 | 3.6 | 35.8 | 3.5 | 7.0 | 17.5 | 9.9 | 11.3 | 8.8 | 6.4 |
Government | 5.1 | 4.0 | 7.4 | 2.1 | 4.9 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 4.6 | 8.4 | 6.9 |
Nonprofit organization | 3.6 | 3.8 | 2.6 | 4.7 | 2.2 | 1.6 | ‡ | ‡ | 6.1 | 9.6 |
Other and unknown | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | ‡ | ‡ | 1.5 | 2.2 |
Primary work activity after doctorate (percent)7 | ||||||||||
Research and development | 31.2 | 7.7 | 70.3 | 10.5 | 41.5 | 58.1 | 42.6 | 41.2 | 32.2 | 18.2 |
Teaching | 41.4 | 41.2 | 14.2 | 76.2 | 33.2 | 29.6 | 50.3 | 43.6 | 36.6 | 53.5 |
Administration | 15.7 | 41.0 | 5.8 | 6.2 | 10.3 | 4.5 | 2.1 | 10.5 | 9.4 | 15.5 |
Professional services | 9.8 | 8.8 | 8.7 | 4.0 | 12.7 | 5.6 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 19.8 | 10.4 |
Other | 1.9 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 2.3 |
Region of employment after doctorate (percent) | ||||||||||
New England | 5.9 | 4.4 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 7.0 | 4.7 | 6.9 | 6.2 | 3.7 |
Middle Atlantic | 13.4 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 16.0 | 11.7 | 17.6 | 19.7 | 11.0 | 14.6 | 14.0 |
East North Central | 12.8 | 13.6 | 11.3 | 14.3 | 12.7 | 10.0 | 14.5 | 13.0 | 12.8 | 13.7 |
West North Central | 6.3 | 8.6 | 2.6 | 6.9 | 6.4 | 4.2 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 8.9 |
South Atlantic | 18.0 | 22.3 | 13.0 | 16.3 | 17.3 | 16.5 | 18.1 | 16.5 | 19.2 | 18.9 |
East South Central | 4.8 | 6.7 | 2.9 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 3.7 | 5.9 |
West South Central | 8.5 | 9.7 | 8.6 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 7.1 | 5.7 | 10.8 | 6.6 | 9.1 |
Mountain | 5.7 | 7.0 | 6.3 | 4.9 | 5.3 | 5.9 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 5.3 | 3.9 |
Pacific and insular | 13.5 | 10.8 | 21.3 | 12.7 | 11.8 | 17.2 | 13.2 | 11.3 | 12.8 | 9.2 |
Foreign | 11.1 | 5.5 | 17.4 | 8.6 | 14.7 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 17.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
Region unknown | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | # | 0.1 | 0.1 | # | 0.1 | 0.1 | # |
# 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 race/ethnicity based on U.S. citizens and those with permanent visas only. 3 Does not include Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders. 4 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who indicated definite postdoctoral plans for study and who indicated the type of study. 5 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who indicated definite postdoctoral plans for employment and who indicated the sector of employment. 6 Includes 2-year, 4-year, and foreign colleges and universities, medical schools, and elementary/secondary schools. 7 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who indicated definite postdoctoral plans for employment and who indicated their primary work activity. NOTE: The above classification of degrees by field 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 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 origin. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. SOURCE: Doctorate Recipients From United States Universities, 2004, 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 April 2006.) |