Table 324.80.

Statistical profile of persons receiving doctor's degrees, by field of study and selected characteristics: 2014-15 and 2015-16

Selected characteristic	All fields, 2014-15	Field of study, 2015-16
		All fields	Educa- tion	Engineer- ing	Human- ities	Life sciences1	Physical sciences and earth sciences	Mathemat ics and computer sciences	Social sciences and psychol- ogy	Other fields
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Number of doctor's degrees conferred	55,006	54,904	5,153	9,469	5,484	12,568	6,252	3,957	9,078	2,943
Sex (percent)2
Male	53.8	53.9	30.1	76.9	48.1	44.9	68.6	75.8	41.3	50.1
Female	46.2	46.0	69.9	23.1	51.8	55.1	31.4	24.2	58.7	49.8
Race/ethnicity (percent)3
White	72.3	71.5	67.1	67.2	79.3	70.3	78.5	69.8	71.0	67.0
Black	6.5	6.6	14.9	4.1	3.8	5.9	2.6	4.5	7.2	10.6
Hispanic	7.0	7.2	7.5	6.5	7.2	7.5	5.1	5.5	8.5	6.6
Asian	8.7	8.6	4.9	15.4	4.0	10.5	8.2	12.5	6.3	10.1
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.4	0.4	0.7	0.2	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.2
Two or more races	2.6	2.9	2.3	2.9	2.5	3.0	3.0	3.8	3.2	2.3
Other and unknown4	2.5	2.9	2.6	3.8	2.7	2.4	2.4	3.7	3.4	3.2
Citizenship (percent)
U.S. citizen/permanent resident	63.8	65.1	83.5	44.2	81.1	69.2	58.6	43.7	75.2	63.4
Temporary visa holder	29.4	30.0	10.9	51.2	13.0	26.8	37.0	51.9	19.3	30.2
Unknown	6.8	4.9	5.6	4.6	5.9	4.0	4.4	4.4	5.4	6.4
Median age at doctorate (years)	31.6	31.6	38.6	30.0	34.1	30.9	29.5	30.3	32.5	34.7
Percent with bachelor's degree in same field as doctorate	54.3	54.0	24.9	75.9	53.5	49.7	66.9	60.2	48.4	35.6
Median time lapse to doctorate (years)
Since bachelor's degree completion	8.7	8.8	15.0	7.3	11.0	8.2	6.9	7.9	9.5	11.2
Since starting graduate school	7.3	7.3	11.7	6.5	9.3	6.7	6.1	6.9	7.9	9.0
Postdoctoral plans (percent)5
Definite postdoctoral study6	23.8	23.5	5.0	19.3	10.8	36.1	37.4	21.2	24.5	5.3
Fellowship	12.6	12.4	2.6	6.9	8.8	20.2	14.4	9.1	17.8	3.5
Research associateship	10.5	10.3	2.2	12.1	1.9	14.2	22.8	11.7	5.4	1.7
Other7	0.6	0.8	0.2	0.3	0.1	1.7	0.3	0.5	1.2	0.1
Definite postdoctoral employment8	36.1	37.1	58.2	38.5	39.3	22.4	23.9	45.4	41.8	61.9
Academe9	18.0	17.1	34.5	6.5	30.1	8.9	5.0	14.5	23.3	47.4
Government	2.7	2.8	2.3	3.1	0.9	2.4	2.2	1.6	5.4	3.3
Industry, business	11.2	12.3	2.8	26.9	2.1	8.0	15.4	27.0	7.4	6.6
Nonprofit organization	2.2	2.0	3.1	1.2	2.9	2.0	0.8	1.3	3.1	2.2
Other and unknown10	2.0	2.8	15.5	0.8	3.3	1.0	0.6	1.0	2.6	2.3
Seeking employment or study	35.5	34.3	32.0	37.9	44.8	34.3	35.2	29.0	29.4	27.4
Other/unknown11	4.6	5.1	4.9	4.4	5.0	7.1	3.5	4.4	4.3	5.4
Primary work activity after doctorate (percent)12
Research and development	43.3	43.2	12.0	73.6	10.6	46.0	65.3	63.6	38.1	37.8
Teaching	33.7	32.5	43.1	8.9	71.6	24.7	16.6	24.8	35.3	46.0
Management or administration	11.0	11.2	33.7	4.3	9.7	11.1	3.2	3.0	8.9	9.3
Professional services	9.4	10.4	9.3	9.5	5.7	14.5	10.4	5.3	16.1	6.1
Other	2.7	2.7	1.9	3.8	2.5	3.6	4.5	3.3	1.6	0.9
Location after doctorate (percent)13
New England	8.6	8.5	4.6	7.4	9.0	10.8	9.8	7.2	8.6	6.2
Middle Atlantic	12.2	12.6	10.5	11.0	17.6	11.8	11.9	15.0	13.0	12.9
East North Central	12.0	12.0	15.1	12.6	12.9	10.3	10.9	9.7	12.5	14.4
West North Central	5.4	5.2	7.8	3.8	5.1	6.7	3.5	3.4	4.9	7.0
South Atlantic	16.5	16.3	19.3	13.1	13.9	18.2	13.9	12.9	19.1	17.2
East South Central	3.6	3.7	8.4	2.4	5.1	3.7	2.5	1.8	3.0	4.7
West South Central	7.8	7.4	10.3	7.3	8.0	7.3	6.3	5.6	6.9	8.5
Mountain	5.4	5.7	7.4	6.5	4.7	4.9	7.2	4.0	4.9	6.1
Pacific and insular	18.2	19.1	11.1	26.6	12.8	18.5	22.9	29.9	15.6	10.8
Foreign	10.0	9.4	5.5	8.9	10.9	7.6	10.9	10.2	11.2	12.1
Region unknown	0.2	0.2	#	0.4	0.1	0.1	#	0.2	0.2	0.1

#Rounds to zero.

1 Includes agricultural sciences and natural resources; biological and biomedical sciences; and health sciences.

2 Distribution based on respondents reporting sex data.

3 Distribution based on U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

4 Includes Pacific Islanders and persons whose race was not reported.

5 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who responded to questions about postgraduation plans.

6 Excludes doctorate recipients who indicated plans for another full-time degree program. Percentages are based on doctorate recipients reporting other definite postgraduation plans for study.

7 Includes respondents who indicated definite postgraduation study plans for traineeship, internship/clinical residency, or other study.

8 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who indicated definite postgraduation plans for employment and who indicated the sector of employment.

9 Includes 2-year, 4-year, and foreign colleges and universities, and medical schools.

10 "Other" is mainly composed of elementary and secondary schools.

11 Includes doctorate recipients who indicated that they did not plan to work or study, those who indicated some other type of postgraduation plans, and those who indicated definite plans for another full-time degree program.

12 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who indicated definite postgraduation plans for employment and who indicated their primary work activity.

13 Percentages are based on only those doctorate recipients who indicated definite postgraduation plans and type of plans.

NOTE: The above classification of degrees by field differs somewhat from that in most publications by 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. Includes only graduates of research programs, which typically require the preparation and defense of a dissertation based on original research, or the planning and execution of an original project demonstrating substantial artistic or scholarly achievement. Excludes nonresearch professional practice doctor's degrees (e.g., M.D., D.D.S., and J.D.) that are conferred upon completion of a program providing the knowledge and skills for the recognition, credential, or license required for professional practice in such fields as health and theology. The number of doctor’s degrees in this table differs from that reported in the NCES Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), which includes both research and nonresearch degrees. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: Doctorate Recipients From U.S. Universities: 2015 and 2016, 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 March 2018.)