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Table 14. Doctorate recipients, by broad field of study and sex: Selected years, 1985–2015

Field of study and sex 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
All fields 31,295 100.0 36,064 100.0 41,576 100.0 41,296 100.0 43,319 100.0 48,015 100.0 54,999 100.0
Male 20,552 65.7 22,960 63.7 25,160 60.5 23,165 56.1 23,737 54.8 25,526 53.2 29,596 53.8
Female 10,743 34.3 13,104 36.3 16,416 39.5 18,131 43.9 19,582 45.2 22,489 46.8 25,403 46.2
Life sciencesb 5,822 100.0 6,655 100.0 7,956 100.0 8,611 100.0 9,296 100.0 11,314 100.0 12,519 100.0
Male 3,946 67.8 4,163 62.6 4,598 57.8 4,568 53.0 4,561 49.1 5,101 45.1 5,578 44.6
Female 1,876 32.2 2,492 37.4 3,358 42.2 4,043 47.0 4,735 50.9 6,213 54.9 6,941 55.4
Physical sciences and earth sciences 3,491 100.0 4,212 100.0 4,519 100.0 4,063 100.0 4,357 100.0 4,994 100.0 5,923 100.0
Male 2,922 83.7 3,421 81.2 3,499 77.4 3,041 74.8 3,141 72.1 3,379 67.7 3,935 66.4
Female 569 16.3 791 18.8 1,020 22.6 1,022 25.2 1,216 27.9 1,615 32.3 1,988 33.6
Mathematics and computer sciences 998 100.0 1,597 100.0 2,178 100.0 1,907 100.0 2,329 100.0 3,223 100.0 3,823 100.0
Male 859 86.1 1,329 83.2 1,727 79.3 1,507 79.0 1,782 76.5 2,409 74.7 2,880 75.3
Female 139 13.9 268 16.8 451 20.7 400 21.0 547 23.5 814 25.3 943 24.7
Psychology and social sciences 6,027 100.0 6,331 100.0 6,906 100.0 7,443 100.0 7,144 100.0 7,882 100.0 9,094 100.0
Male 3,517 58.4 3,378 53.4 3,380 48.9 3,370 45.3 3,159 44.2 3,358 42.6 3,762 41.4
Female 2,510 41.6 2,953 46.6 3,526 51.1 4,073 54.7 3,985 55.8 4,524 57.4 5,332 58.6
Engineering 3,166 100.0 4,894 100.0 5,966 100.0 5,297 100.0 6,408 100.0 7,575 100.0 9,897 100.0
Male 2,968 93.7 4,479 91.5 5,270 88.3 4,459 84.2 5,226 81.6 5,829 77.0 7,596 76.8
Female 198 6.3 415 8.5 696 11.7 838 15.8 1,182 18.4 1,746 23.0 2,301 23.2
Education 6,733 100.0 6,509 100.0 6,638 100.0 6,439 100.0 6,217 100.0 5,286 100.0 5,116 100.0
Male 3,242 48.2 2,758 42.4 2,546 38.4 2,260 35.1 2,065 33.2 1,662 31.4 1,614 31.5
Female 3,491 51.8 3,751 57.6 4,092 61.6 4,179 64.9 4,152 66.8 3,624 68.6 3,502 68.5
Humanities and arts 3,406 100.0 3,854 100.0 5,034 100.0 5,458 100.0 5,181 100.0 5,015 100.0 5,599 100.0
Male 2,014 59.1 2,188 56.8 2,695 53.5 2,786 51.0 2,600 50.2 2,462 49.1 2,767 49.4
Female 1,392 40.9 1,666 43.2 2,339 46.5 2,672 49.0 2,581 49.8 2,553 50.9 2,832 50.6
Otherc 1,652 100.0 2,012 100.0 2,379 100.0 2,078 100.0 2,387 100.0 2,726 100.0 3,028 100.0
Male 1,084 65.6 1,244 61.8 1,445 60.7 1,174 56.5 1,203 50.4 1,326 48.6 1,464 48.3
Female 568 34.4 768 38.2 934 39.3 904 43.5 1,184 49.6 1,400 51.4 1,564 51.7
a Excludes respondents who did not report sex: 171 in 1995, 73 in 2000, 66 in 2005, 16 in 2010, and 7 in 2015.
b Includes agricultural sciences and natural resources; biological and biomedical sciences; and health sciences.
c Non-science and engineering fields not shown separately.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates.