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Table 66. Statistical profile of doctorate recipients in education fields, by sex and field of study: 2015

Characteristic All education fields Education administration Education research Teacher education Teaching fields Other education
All doctorate recipients (number)a 5,117 922 2,783 155 957 300
Sex (%)
Male 31.5 37.4 30.7 23.2 30.9 27.3
Female 68.4 62.6 69.2 76.8 69.1 72.7
Unknown * 0.0 * 0.0 0.0 0.0
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 82.3 86.6 82.0 85.2 79.9 77.3
Temporary visa holder 10.5 3.8 11.7 8.4 15.2 6.3
Unknown 7.2 9.7 6.3 6.5 4.9 16.3
Marital status (%)
Never married 18.5 12.8 21.0 16.8 19.0 12.3
Married 55.8 56.5 55.8 65.8 59.2 37.7
Marriage-like relationship 5.1 3.8 6.0 5.2 3.8 5.7
Separated, divorced, widowed 7.0 9.8 6.9 5.2 6.4 3.0
Unknown 13.5 17.1 10.4 7.1 11.6 41.3
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 24.0 23.3 20.7 41.9 34.0 15.7
Master's earned (%) 86.4 84.3 88.4 92.3 88.9 63.7
Age at doctorate (median years) 38.6 43.2 36.8 40.2 38.1 40.8
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 14.8 18.7 13.3 16.8 14.3 15.7
From graduate school start 11.7 15.3 11.0 13.4 11.3 12.3
From doctoral program startc 6.0 6.7 6.0 6.3 5.9 6.3
Male doctorate recipients (number) 1,614 345 855 36 296 82
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 81.1 86.1 81.5 83.3 77.0 69.5
Temporary visa holder 10.8 4.9 11.2 13.9 16.2 9.8
Unknown 8.1 9.0 7.3 2.8 6.8 20.7
Marital status (%)
Never married 18.1 12.8 19.6 D 21.3 D
Married 57.9 62.6 57.8 63.9 57.4 39.0
Marriage-like relationship 5.0 2.9 6.3 D D D
Separated, divorced, widowed 4.7 6.4 4.7 D D D
Unknown 14.3 15.4 11.6 2.8 13.9 43.9
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 22.2 24.1 17.5 38.9 34.8 11.0
Master's earned (%) 85.6 84.6 87.7 97.2 84.8 64.6
Age at doctorate (median years) 39.0 42.3 37.5 42.2 37.4 43.2
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 14.6 18.0 13.5 17.7 13.3 18.3
From graduate school start 11.7 14.7 11.0 12.3 10.6 12.0
From doctoral program startc 6.2 6.7 6.0 6.2 5.7 6.3
Female doctorate recipients (number) 3,502 577 1,927 119 661 218
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 82.8 86.8 82.3 85.7 81.2 80.3
Temporary visa holder 10.4 3.1 12.0 6.7 14.7 5.0
Unknown 6.8 10.1 5.8 7.6 4.1 14.7
Marital status (%)
Never married 18.7 12.8 21.6 D 18.0 D
Married 54.8 52.9 54.9 66.4 60.1 37.2
Marriage-like relationship 5.2 4.3 5.8 D D D
Separated, divorced, widowed 8.1 11.8 7.8 D D D
Unknown 13.2 18.2 9.8 8.4 10.6 40.4
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 24.8 22.9 22.1 42.9 33.6 17.4
Master's earned (%) 86.8 84.1 88.7 90.8 90.8 63.3
Age at doctorate (median years) 38.3 43.9 36.5 39.5 38.5 39.3
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 14.9 19.3 13.3 16.6 15.0 15.5
From graduate school start 11.7 15.7 10.9 13.6 11.6 12.3
From doctoral program startc 6.0 6.6 6.0 6.3 5.9 6.2
* = value < 0.05%; D = suppressed to avoid disclosure of confidential information.
a Includes respondents who did not report sex.
b A bachelor's degree is counted as "in same field as doctorate" if the fields of study for the doctorate recipient's bachelor's degree and doctorate degree are both in the same major field category of the National Science Foundation's field of study taxonomy, except for engineering and education fields where broad field categories need be the same. See table A-6 in the technical notes for a listing of major fields and their constituent subfields.
c Time to doctorate from doctoral program start is based on master's degree entry if the master's degree was at the doctoral institution in the same fine field of study or was a prerequisite to the doctorate; otherwise, it is based on doctoral program entry.
NOTE: Due to rounding, percentages may not sum to 100.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2015.