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Table 70. Statistical profile of doctorate recipients in other fields, by sex and field of study: 2015

Characteristic All other fieldsa Business management and administration Communication Non-S&E fields not elsewhere classified
All doctorate recipients (number)b 3,028 1,588 668 772
Sex (%)
Male 48.3 59.0 38.3 35.1
Female 51.7 41.0 61.7 64.9
Unknown 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 62.1 56.2 71.9 65.8
Temporary visa holder 28.6 34.3 20.5 23.8
Unknown 9.3 9.4 7.6 10.4
Marital status (%)
Never married 23.2 22.7 28.0 19.9
Married 51.9 54.9 48.2 49.1
Marriage-like relationship 4.5 3.2 6.6 5.4
Separated, divorced, widowed 4.8 3.7 4.5 7.4
Unknown 15.6 15.6 12.7 18.1
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)c 36.5 36.5 44.8 29.3
Master's earned (%) 80.5 76.6 87.3 82.8
Age at doctorate (median years) 34.7 34.2 33.4 36.7
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 11.2 10.7 10.3 13.0
From graduate school start 8.9 8.7 8.0 10.7
From doctoral program startd 5.3 5.0 5.3 6.0
Male doctorate recipients (number) 1,464 937 256 271
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 57.9 55.4 73.0 52.4
Temporary visa holder 31.8 34.9 17.6 34.3
Unknown 10.3 9.7 9.4 13.3
Marital status (%)
Never married 21.4 21.2 25.4 18.5
Married 55.0 57.5 50.4 50.6
Marriage-like relationship 4.2 3.1 7.0 5.2
Separated, divorced, widowed 3.1 2.5 3.1 5.2
Unknown 16.3 15.7 14.1 20.7
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)c 35.2 34.4 42.2 31.4
Master's earned (%) 77.8 75.7 85.2 78.2
Age at doctorate (median years) 35.0 34.7 34.7 36.6
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 11.3 11.0 11.0 12.9
From graduate school start 8.9 8.7 8.1 10.6
From doctoral program startd 5.0 5.0 5.3 5.9
Female doctorate recipients (number) 1,564 651 412 501
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 66.0 57.5 71.1 73.1
Temporary visa holder 25.6 33.5 22.3 18.2
Unknown 8.3 9.1 6.6 8.8
Marital status (%)
Never married 24.7 24.7 29.6 20.8
Married 49.1 51.2 46.8 48.3
Marriage-like relationship 4.9 3.4 6.3 5.6
Separated, divorced, widowed 6.4 5.4 5.3 8.6
Unknown 14.9 15.4 11.9 16.8
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)c 37.7 39.5 46.4 28.1
Master's earned (%) 83.1 77.9 88.6 85.2
Age at doctorate (median years) 34.3 33.5 32.6 36.7
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 11.1 10.4 10.2 13.1
From graduate school start 9.0 8.7 8.0 10.7
From doctoral program startd 5.3 5.0 5.2 6.0
S&E = science and engineering.
a Non-science and engineering fields.
b Includes respondents who did not report sex.
c A bachelor's degree is counted as "in same field as doctorate" if fields of study of doctorate recipient's bachelor's degree and doctorate degree are both in same major field category of 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.
d 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.