Figure F-2. Doctoral degrees awarded in S&E and non-S&E fields to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, by race/ethnicity: 1975–2006

NOTE: The increase in Asian/Pacific Islanders in the mid-1990s is a result of the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 which made thousands of students from the People's Republic of China enrolled in U.S. universities eligible to apply for permanent resident visas.

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 1975–2006.

The number of S&E and non-S&E doctoral degrees awarded to U.S. citizen and permanent resident underrepresented minorities (blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaska Natives) increased over the past three decades but remains a small proportion of the total.

• The number of underrepresented minority U.S. citizen and permanent residents earning S&E doctoral degrees increased from 458 in 1955 to 1,661 in 2006.
• Underrepresented minorities earned slightly higher numbers of non-S&E than of S&E doctoral degrees and whites and Asian/Pacific Islanders earned higher numbers of S&E than of non-S&E doctoral degrees.
• Asians/Pacific Islanders earned 1,811 S&E doctorates in 2006, approximately 11% of the 16,712 S&E doctorates to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
• Underrepresented minorities earned approximately 10% of S&E doctorates to U.S. citizens and permanent residents in 2006, up from 3% in 1975.