Table 16. Doctorate recipients, by subfield of study and sex: 2015
Subfield of study |
Totala |
Male |
Female |
% female |
All fields |
55,006 |
29,596 |
25,403 |
46.2 |
Life sciences |
12,520 |
5,578 |
6,941 |
55.4 |
Agricultural sciences and natural resources |
1,439 |
748 |
691 |
48.0 |
Agricultural economics |
102 |
52 |
50 |
49.0 |
Agronomy, horticulture science, plant breeding, plant pathology, plant sciences-other |
326 |
182 |
144 |
44.2 |
Animal nutrition, poultry science |
71 |
39 |
32 |
45.1 |
Animal sciences, other |
90 |
53 |
37 |
41.1 |
Environmental science |
183 |
85 |
98 |
53.6 |
Fishing and fisheries sciences and management |
60 |
39 |
21 |
35.0 |
Food science, food technology-other |
172 |
71 |
101 |
58.7 |
Forest biology, forest management, wood science, forestry sciences- other |
112 |
62 |
50 |
44.6 |
Natural resources and conservation, wildlife and range management |
119 |
57 |
62 |
52.1 |
Natural resource and environmental policy |
57 |
26 |
31 |
54.4 |
Soil chemistry, soil sciences-other |
71 |
36 |
35 |
49.3 |
Agricultural sciences, aggregated |
76 |
46 |
30 |
39.5 |
Biological and biomedical sciences |
8,801 |
4,112 |
4,688 |
53.3 |
Anatomy, developmental biology |
212 |
82 |
130 |
61.3 |
Bacteriology, parasitology |
53 |
18 |
35 |
66.0 |
Biochemistry (biological sciences) |
749 |
386 |
363 |
48.5 |
Bioinformatics |
175 |
111 |
64 |
36.6 |
Biomedical sciences |
416 |
176 |
240 |
57.7 |
Biometrics and biostatistics |
171 |
92 |
79 |
46.2 |
Biophysics (biological sciences) |
181 |
124 |
57 |
31.5 |
Botany, plant pathology, plant physiology |
135 |
62 |
73 |
54.1 |
Cancer biology |
455 |
191 |
264 |
58.0 |
Cell, cellular biology, and histology |
321 |
144 |
177 |
55.1 |
Computational biology |
107 |
76 |
31 |
29.0 |
Ecology |
455 |
222 |
233 |
51.2 |
Endocrinology, human/animal pathology |
109 |
54 |
55 |
50.5 |
Entomology |
110 |
55 |
55 |
50.0 |
Environmental toxicology, toxicology |
140 |
58 |
82 |
58.6 |
Epidemiology |
381 |
134 |
247 |
64.8 |
Evolutionary biology |
209 |
120 |
89 |
42.6 |
Genetics-human/animal, plant genetics |
415 |
192 |
223 |
53.7 |
Immunology |
473 |
205 |
268 |
56.7 |
Microbiology |
480 |
209 |
271 |
56.5 |
Molecular biology |
631 |
287 |
344 |
54.5 |
Neurosciences, neurobiology |
1,091 |
519 |
572 |
52.4 |
Nutrition sciences |
186 |
55 |
131 |
70.4 |
Pharmacology, human and animal |
243 |
106 |
136 |
56.0 |
Physiology, human and animal |
210 |
108 |
102 |
48.6 |
Structural biology |
64 |
28 |
36 |
56.3 |
Virology |
164 |
80 |
84 |
51.2 |
Wildlife biology |
47 |
22 |
25 |
53.2 |
Zoology |
46 |
17 |
29 |
63.0 |
Biological and biomedical sciences, general |
261 |
120 |
141 |
54.0 |
Biotechnology, biology/biomedical sciences-other |
111 |
59 |
52 |
46.8 |
Health sciences |
2,280 |
718 |
1,562 |
68.5 |
Environmental health, public health |
518 |
120 |
398 |
76.8 |
Health and behavior |
126 |
25 |
101 |
80.2 |
Health systems administration |
70 |
31 |
39 |
55.7 |
Kinesiology, exercise science |
264 |
163 |
101 |
38.3 |
Medical physics, radiological science |
84 |
62 |
22 |
26.2 |
Nursing science |
536 |
33 |
503 |
93.8 |
Pharmaceutical sciences |
270 |
148 |
122 |
45.2 |
Rehabilitation, therapeutic services |
87 |
42 |
45 |
51.7 |
Speech-language pathology and audiology |
116 |
24 |
92 |
79.3 |
Health sciences, aggregated |
209 |
70 |
139 |
66.5 |
Physical sciences and earth sciences |
5,924 |
3,935 |
1,988 |
33.6 |
Chemistry |
2,675 |
1,598 |
1,077 |
40.3 |
Analytical chemistry |
389 |
186 |
203 |
52.2 |
Inorganic chemistry |
354 |
220 |
134 |
37.9 |
Medicinal chemistry |
79 |
49 |
30 |
38.0 |
Organic chemistry |
627 |
421 |
206 |
32.9 |
Physical chemistry |
368 |
225 |
143 |
38.9 |
Polymer chemistry |
135 |
81 |
54 |
40.0 |
Theoretical chemistry |
111 |
89 |
22 |
19.8 |
Chemistry, general |
401 |
223 |
178 |
44.4 |
Chemistry, other |
211 |
104 |
107 |
50.7 |
Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences |
1,057 |
600 |
457 |
43.2 |
Atmospheric science and meteorology |
213 |
138 |
75 |
35.2 |
Atmospheric physics, meteorology |
89 |
62 |
27 |
30.3 |
Atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric sciences-general, atmospheric sciences-other |
124 |
76 |
48 |
38.7 |
Geological sciences |
554 |
317 |
237 |
42.8 |
Geochemistry, mineralogy |
115 |
53 |
62 |
53.9 |
Geology |
135 |
80 |
55 |
40.7 |
Geomorphology, geological sciences-general, geological sciences-other |
134 |
69 |
65 |
48.5 |
Geophysics and seismology |
123 |
85 |
38 |
30.9 |
Paleontology, stratigraphy |
47 |
30 |
17 |
36.2 |
Ocean and marine sciences |
290 |
145 |
145 |
50.0 |
Marine biology and biological oceanography |
85 |
41 |
44 |
51.8 |
Oceanography, chemical and physical |
67 |
32 |
35 |
52.2 |
Ocean/marine sciences, aggregated |
138 |
72 |
66 |
47.8 |
Physics and astronomy |
2,192 |
1,737 |
454 |
20.7 |
Astronomy and astrophysics |
269 |
193 |
76 |
28.3 |
Astronomy |
86 |
51 |
35 |
40.7 |
Astrophysics |
174 |
135 |
39 |
22.4 |
Astronomy and astrophysics, other |
9 |
7 |
2 |
22.2 |
Physics |
1,923 |
1,544 |
378 |
19.7 |
Acoustics, optics/photonics |
235 |
192 |
43 |
18.3 |
Applied physics |
145 |
108 |
37 |
25.5 |
Atomic physics, polymer physics |
151 |
117 |
34 |
22.5 |
Biophysics (physics) |
127 |
97 |
30 |
23.6 |
Condensed matter, low-temperature physics |
439 |
363 |
76 |
17.3 |
Elementary particle physics |
243 |
203 |
40 |
16.5 |
Nuclear physics |
86 |
72 |
14 |
16.3 |
Plasma, high-temperature physics |
88 |
82 |
6 |
6.8 |
Physics, general |
284 |
219 |
64 |
22.5 |
Physics, other |
125 |
91 |
34 |
27.2 |
Mathematics and computer sciences |
3,825 |
2,880 |
943 |
24.7 |
Computer and information sciences |
2,005 |
1,582 |
423 |
21.1 |
Computer science |
1,661 |
1,347 |
314 |
18.9 |
Information science, systems |
157 |
100 |
57 |
36.3 |
Computer and information sciences, general |
117 |
84 |
33 |
28.2 |
Computer and information sciences, other |
70 |
51 |
19 |
27.1 |
Mathematics and statistics |
1,820 |
1,298 |
520 |
28.6 |
Algebra |
146 |
111 |
35 |
24.0 |
Analysis and functional analysis |
161 |
134 |
27 |
16.8 |
Applied mathematics, computing theory |
461 |
309 |
152 |
33.0 |
Geometry, geometric analysis |
108 |
91 |
17 |
15.7 |
Logic, topology/foundations |
108 |
90 |
18 |
16.7 |
Number theory |
88 |
74 |
14 |
15.9 |
Operations research, mathematics/statistics-general, mathematics/statistics-other |
365 |
258 |
106 |
29.0 |
Statistics (mathematics) |
383 |
231 |
151 |
39.4 |
Psychology and social sciences |
9,095 |
3,762 |
5,332 |
58.6 |
Psychology |
3,782 |
1,060 |
2,722 |
72.0 |
Behavioral analysis |
63 |
18 |
45 |
71.4 |
Clinical psychology |
1,179 |
250 |
929 |
78.8 |
Cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics |
220 |
109 |
111 |
50.5 |
Counseling |
419 |
112 |
307 |
73.3 |
Developmental and child psychology |
190 |
33 |
157 |
82.6 |
Educational psychology (psychology) |
60 |
14 |
46 |
76.7 |
Experimental psychology |
143 |
68 |
75 |
52.4 |
Family psychology, human development and family studies |
191 |
43 |
148 |
77.5 |
Health, medical psychology |
101 |
23 |
78 |
77.2 |
Industrial and organizational psychology |
221 |
86 |
135 |
61.1 |
Neuropsychology, physiological psychology |
129 |
52 |
77 |
59.7 |
School psychology (psychology) |
115 |
19 |
96 |
83.5 |
Social psychology |
219 |
72 |
147 |
67.1 |
Psychology, general |
292 |
85 |
207 |
70.9 |
Psychology, aggregated |
240 |
76 |
164 |
68.3 |
Social sciences |
5,313 |
2,702 |
2,610 |
49.1 |
Anthropology |
493 |
186 |
307 |
62.3 |
Anthropology, cultural |
317 |
122 |
195 |
61.5 |
Anthropology, general |
100 |
39 |
61 |
61.0 |
Anthropology, physical and biological |
76 |
25 |
51 |
67.1 |
Economics |
1,256 |
820 |
436 |
34.7 |
Econometrics, economics |
1,209 |
794 |
415 |
34.3 |
Natural resources and environmental economics (social sciences) |
47 |
26 |
21 |
44.7 |
Political science and government |
859 |
527 |
332 |
38.6 |
Sociology |
745 |
284 |
461 |
61.9 |
Other social sciences |
1,960 |
885 |
1,074 |
54.8 |
American, U.S. studies |
130 |
50 |
80 |
61.5 |
Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender studies |
115 |
38 |
77 |
67.0 |
Criminal justice and corrections |
111 |
52 |
59 |
53.2 |
Criminology |
105 |
41 |
64 |
61.0 |
Demography, gerontology, statistics, urban affairs, social sciences- general, social sciences-other |
300 |
116 |
184 |
61.3 |
Geography |
302 |
175 |
127 |
42.1 |
Health policy analysis |
82 |
26 |
55 |
67.1 |
International relations, international affairs |
104 |
64 |
40 |
38.5 |
Linguistics |
288 |
128 |
160 |
55.6 |
Public policy analysis |
295 |
134 |
161 |
54.6 |
Urban, city, community and regional planning |
128 |
61 |
67 |
52.3 |
Engineering |
9,897 |
7,596 |
2,301 |
23.2 |
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering |
361 |
308 |
53 |
14.7 |
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering |
1,129 |
701 |
428 |
37.9 |
Chemical engineering |
1,002 |
685 |
317 |
31.6 |
Civil engineering |
633 |
458 |
175 |
27.6 |
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering |
2,004 |
1,711 |
293 |
14.6 |
Industrial and manufacturing engineering |
244 |
154 |
90 |
36.9 |
Materials science engineering |
874 |
651 |
223 |
25.5 |
Mechanical engineering |
1,467 |
1,265 |
202 |
13.8 |
Other engineering |
2,183 |
1,663 |
520 |
23.8 |
Computer engineering |
412 |
350 |
62 |
15.0 |
Environmental, environmental health engineering |
283 |
151 |
132 |
46.6 |
Nuclear engineering |
130 |
117 |
13 |
10.0 |
Robotics |
82 |
71 |
11 |
13.4 |
Structural engineering |
125 |
104 |
21 |
16.8 |
Systems engineering |
105 |
84 |
21 |
20.0 |
Other engineering, aggregated |
1,046 |
786 |
260 |
24.9 |
Education |
5,117 |
1,614 |
3,502 |
68.4 |
Education administration |
922 |
345 |
577 |
62.6 |
Educational administration and supervision |
169 |
64 |
105 |
62.1 |
Educational and human resource studies, development |
68 |
28 |
40 |
58.8 |
Educational leadership |
622 |
238 |
384 |
61.7 |
Urban education and leadership |
63 |
15 |
48 |
76.2 |
Education research |
2,783 |
855 |
1,927 |
69.2 |
Counseling education, counseling and guidance |
294 |
69 |
225 |
76.5 |
Curriculum and instruction |
589 |
161 |
427 |
72.5 |
Educational assessment, testing, measurement |
65 |
28 |
37 |
56.9 |
Educational policy analysis |
168 |
65 |
103 |
61.3 |
Educational psychology (education) |
286 |
77 |
209 |
73.1 |
Educational statistics, research methods |
92 |
30 |
62 |
67.4 |
Educational/instructional technology, media design |
231 |
111 |
120 |
51.9 |
Higher education evaluation and research |
522 |
203 |
319 |
61.1 |
International education |
55 |
12 |
43 |
78.2 |
School psychology (education) |
133 |
23 |
110 |
82.7 |
Social and philosophical foundations of education |
90 |
30 |
60 |
66.7 |
Special education |
258 |
46 |
212 |
82.2 |
Teacher education |
155 |
36 |
119 |
76.8 |
Teaching fields |
957 |
296 |
661 |
69.1 |
English as a second or foreign language |
94 |
24 |
70 |
74.5 |
Health education |
53 |
10 |
43 |
81.1 |
Literacy and reading education |
123 |
18 |
105 |
85.4 |
Mathematics education |
133 |
43 |
90 |
67.7 |
Music education |
114 |
47 |
67 |
58.8 |
Physical education and coaching |
36 |
26 |
10 |
27.8 |
Science education |
123 |
44 |
79 |
64.2 |
Teaching fields, aggregated |
281 |
84 |
197 |
70.1 |
Other education |
300 |
82 |
218 |
72.7 |
Education, general |
141 |
32 |
109 |
77.3 |
Other education, aggregated |
159 |
50 |
109 |
68.6 |
Humanities and arts |
5,600 |
2,767 |
2,832 |
50.6 |
Foreign languages and literature |
656 |
239 |
417 |
63.6 |
French, Italian |
177 |
55 |
122 |
68.9 |
Germanic language and literature |
72 |
31 |
41 |
56.9 |
Latin American languages and literature |
78 |
30 |
48 |
61.5 |
Spanish language and literature |
187 |
74 |
113 |
60.4 |
Other aggregated languages |
142 |
49 |
93 |
65.5 |
History |
1,145 |
632 |
513 |
44.8 |
American history, United States and Canada |
413 |
228 |
185 |
44.8 |
Asian history |
89 |
50 |
39 |
43.8 |
European history |
198 |
107 |
91 |
46.0 |
History, science and technology and society |
72 |
38 |
34 |
47.2 |
Latin American history |
63 |
28 |
35 |
55.6 |
Middle, Near East history |
82 |
54 |
28 |
34.1 |
History, general |
108 |
58 |
50 |
46.3 |
History, aggregated |
120 |
69 |
51 |
42.5 |
Letters |
1,590 |
650 |
940 |
59.1 |
American literature, United States and Canada |
336 |
136 |
200 |
59.5 |
Classics |
94 |
58 |
36 |
38.3 |
Comparative literature |
167 |
72 |
95 |
56.9 |
English language |
154 |
63 |
91 |
59.1 |
English literature, British and Commonwealth |
412 |
150 |
262 |
63.6 |
Rhetoric and composition |
240 |
89 |
151 |
62.9 |
Speech and rhetorical studies |
42 |
23 |
19 |
45.2 |
Letters, aggregated |
145 |
59 |
86 |
59.3 |
Other humanities and arts |
2,209 |
1,246 |
962 |
43.5 |
Archaeology (humanities) |
121 |
54 |
67 |
55.4 |
Art history, criticism, and conservation |
272 |
55 |
217 |
79.8 |
Drama, theater arts |
86 |
29 |
57 |
66.3 |
Film, cinema, video studies |
67 |
32 |
35 |
52.2 |
Music |
54 |
36 |
18 |
33.3 |
Musicology and ethnomusicology |
148 |
66 |
82 |
55.4 |
Music performance |
110 |
53 |
57 |
51.8 |
Music theory and composition |
108 |
77 |
31 |
28.7 |
Philosophy, ethics |
494 |
367 |
127 |
25.7 |
Religion/religious studies, Jewish/Judaic studies |
340 |
215 |
124 |
36.5 |
Theology, religious education |
172 |
133 |
39 |
22.7 |
Other humanities, aggregated |
237 |
129 |
108 |
45.6 |
Otherb |
3,028 |
1,464 |
1,564 |
51.7 |
Business management and administration |
1,588 |
937 |
651 |
41.0 |
Accounting |
194 |
110 |
84 |
43.3 |
Business administration and management |
232 |
141 |
91 |
39.2 |
Finance |
242 |
166 |
76 |
31.4 |
Human resources development |
51 |
23 |
28 |
54.9 |
Management information systems, business statistics |
101 |
70 |
31 |
30.7 |
Marketing management and research |
183 |
89 |
94 |
51.4 |
Organizational behavior |
190 |
88 |
102 |
53.7 |
Other aggregated business fields |
395 |
250 |
145 |
36.7 |
Communication |
668 |
256 |
412 |
61.7 |
Communication research |
150 |
53 |
97 |
64.7 |
Mass communication, media studies |
242 |
98 |
144 |
59.5 |
Communication, general |
119 |
42 |
77 |
64.7 |
Communication, aggregated |
157 |
63 |
94 |
59.9 |
Non-S&E fields not elsewhere classified |
772 |
271 |
501 |
64.9 |
Architecture and environmental design |
116 |
61 |
55 |
47.4 |
Family, consumer sciences and human sciences |
47 |
10 |
37 |
78.7 |
Parks, sports, recreation, leisure and fitness |
52 |
27 |
25 |
48.1 |
Public administration |
122 |
55 |
67 |
54.9 |
Social work |
308 |
55 |
253 |
82.1 |
Fields not elsewhere classified, aggregated |
127 |
63 |
64 |
50.4 |