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Table 14. Doctorate recipients, by broad field of study and sex: Selected years, 1986–2016

Field of study and sex 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
All fieldsa 31,897 100.0 37,394 100.0 42,244 100.0 40,667 100.0 45,579 100.0 48,889 100.0 54,894 100.0
Male 20,592 64.6 23,521 62.9 25,288 59.9 22,780 56.0 25,020 54.9 26,189 53.6 29,616 54.0
Female 11,305 35.4 13,873 37.1 16,956 40.1 17,887 44.0 20,559 45.1 22,700 46.4 25,278 46.0
Life sciencesb 5,767 100.0 6,943 100.0 8,304 100.0 8,343 100.0 9,696 100.0 11,532 100.0 12,566 100.0
Male 3,812 66.1 4,242 61.1 4,688 56.5 4,417 52.9 4,690 48.4 5,243 45.5 5,643 44.9
Female 1,955 33.9 2,701 38.9 3,616 43.5 3,926 47.1 5,006 51.6 6,289 54.5 6,923 55.1
Physical sciences and earth sciences 3,644 100.0 4,390 100.0 4,516 100.0 4,018 100.0 4,681 100.0 5,269 100.0 6,249 100.0
Male 3,047 83.6 3,545 80.8 3,525 78.1 2,992 74.5 3,321 70.9 3,629 68.9 4,286 68.6
Female 597 16.4 845 19.2 991 21.9 1,026 25.5 1,360 29.1 1,640 31.1 1,963 31.4
Mathematics and computer sciences 1,128 100.0 1,830 100.0 2,026 100.0 1,838 100.0 2,778 100.0 3,269 100.0 3,957 100.0
Male 959 85.0 1,514 82.7 1,656 81.7 1,407 76.6 2,074 74.7 2,456 75.1 2,998 75.8
Female 169 15.0 316 17.3 370 18.3 431 23.4 704 25.3 813 24.9 959 24.2
Psychology and social sciences 6,150 100.0 6,455 100.0 7,148 100.0 7,141 100.0 7,226 100.0 8,220 100.0 9,078 100.0
Male 3,504 57.0 3,247 50.3 3,452 48.3 3,234 45.3 3,072 42.5 3,332 40.5 3,749 41.3
Female 2,646 43.0 3,208 49.7 3,696 51.7 3,907 54.7 4,154 57.5 4,888 59.5 5,329 58.7
Engineering 3,375 100.0 5,169 100.0 6,268 100.0 5,502 100.0 7,181 100.0 8,024 100.0 9,469 100.0
Male 3,150 93.3 4,702 91.0 5,491 87.6 4,572 83.1 5,729 79.8 6,242 77.8 7,277 76.9
Female 225 6.7 467 9.0 777 12.4 930 16.9 1,452 20.2 1,782 22.2 2,192 23.1
Education 6,649 100.0 6,444 100.0 6,766 100.0 6,351 100.0 6,115 100.0 4,666 100.0 5,153 100.0
Male 3,036 45.7 2,696 41.8 2,579 38.1 2,251 35.4 2,130 34.8 1,432 30.7 1,550 30.1
Female 3,613 54.3 3,748 58.2 4,187 61.9 4,100 64.6 3,985 65.2 3,234 69.3 3,603 69.9
Humanities and arts 3,443 100.0 4,044 100.0 4,965 100.0 5,422 100.0 5,327 100.0 5,226 100.0 5,482 100.0
Male 1,980 57.5 2,249 55.6 2,561 51.6 2,775 51.2 2,680 50.3 2,572 49.2 2,639 48.1
Female 1,463 42.5 1,795 44.4 2,404 48.4 2,647 48.8 2,647 49.7 2,654 50.8 2,843 51.9
Otherc 1,741 100.0 2,119 100.0 2,251 100.0 2,052 100.0 2,575 100.0 2,683 100.0 2,940 100.0
Male 1,104 63.4 1,326 62.6 1,336 59.4 1,132 55.2 1,324 51.4 1,283 47.8 1,474 50.1
Female 637 36.6 793 37.4 915 40.6 920 44.8 1,251 48.6 1,400 52.2 1,466 49.9
a Excludes respondents who did not report sex: 136 In 1991, 193 in 1996, 77 in 2001, 41 in 2006, 22 in 2011, and 10 in 2016.
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.