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Table 54. Statistical profile of doctorate recipients, by sex and broad field of study: 2016

Characteristic All fields Life sciencesa Physical sciences and earth sciences Mathematics and computer sciences Psychology and social sciences Engineering Education Humanities and arts Otherb
All doctorate recipients (number)c 54,904 12,568 6,252 3,957 9,078 9,469 5,153 5,484 2,943
Sex (%)
Male 53.9 44.9 68.6 75.8 41.3 76.9 30.1 48.1 50.1
Female 46.0 55.1 31.4 24.2 58.7 23.1 69.9 51.8 49.8
Unknown * * * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 * 0.1
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 65.1 69.2 58.6 43.7 75.2 44.2 83.5 81.1 63.4
Temporary visa holder 30.0 26.8 37.0 51.9 19.3 51.2 10.9 13.0 30.2
Unknown 4.9 4.0 4.4 4.4 5.4 4.6 5.6 5.9 6.4
Marital status (%)
Never married 31.6 33.1 40.7 37.4 27.7 38.3 17.7 25.9 23.5
Married 44.8 45.1 37.1 42.8 44.0 41.5 56.7 46.8 51.7
Marriage-like relationship 8.3 9.6 9.9 6.2 10.3 6.6 4.9 10.1 4.7
Separated, divorced, widowed 3.4 2.8 2.1 2.1 4.0 1.3 7.4 5.0 5.2
Unknown 11.9 9.4 10.3 11.5 14.0 12.3 13.3 12.2 15.0
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)d 54.0 49.7 66.9 60.2 48.4 75.9 24.9 53.5 35.6
Master's earned (%) 69.4 50.9 51.4 72.8 81.8 69.7 87.9 84.4 82.8
Age at doctorate (median years) 31.6 30.9 29.5 30.3 32.5 30.0 38.6 34.1 34.7
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 8.8 8.2 6.9 7.9 9.5 7.3 15.0 11.0 11.2
From graduate school start 7.3 6.7 6.1 6.9 7.9 6.5 11.7 9.3 9.0
From doctoral program starte 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 6.0 5.3 6.0 7.0 5.3
Male doctorate recipients (number) 29,616 5,643 4,286 2,998 3,749 7,277 1,550 2,639 1,474
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 59.2 65.8 57.1 43.8 70.1 43.4 82.1 81.1 59.2
Temporary visa holder 36.1 30.2 38.4 52.0 24.9 52.1 13.2 12.8 34.5
Unknown 4.7 4.0 4.5 4.2 5.0 4.5 4.7 6.1 6.3
Marital status (%)
Never married 33.6 34.1 41.3 38.4 28.7 38.3 16.8 24.3 23.5
Married 45.1 45.3 37.5 42.9 46.6 42.1 61.5 50.7 54.3
Marriage-like relationship 7.6 9.1 9.1 5.8 9.5 6.4 5.7 8.4 3.5
Separated, divorced, widowed 2.1 2.0 1.7 1.5 2.3 1.1 4.5 4.2 3.8
Unknown 11.5 9.6 10.3 11.3 12.9 12.1 11.6 12.5 15.0
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)d 57.8 48.7 66.9 59.7 46.9 77.1 23.9 55.2 34.7
Master's earned (%) 68.2 49.8 52.1 71.5 81.9 70.6 89.7 83.6 82.4
Age at doctorate (median years) 31.3 31.0 29.5 30.4 32.8 30.2 38.4 34.3 34.7
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 8.3 8.0 7.0 7.8 9.6 7.4 14.6 11.0 11.0
From graduate school start 7.1 6.7 6.2 6.9 7.8 6.7 11.7 9.2 8.7
From doctoral program starte 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.9 5.3 5.9 6.9 5.1
Female doctorate recipients (number) 25,278 6,923 1,963 959 5,329 2,192 3,603 2,843 1,466
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 71.9 72.0 62.0 43.4 78.9 46.7 84.1 81.2 67.7
Temporary visa holder 23.0 23.9 34.0 51.6 15.4 48.3 9.9 13.1 26.0
Unknown 5.1 4.1 4.0 5.0 5.7 5.0 5.9 5.7 6.3
Marital status (%)
Never married 29.3 32.4 39.5 34.0 27.1 38.5 18.1 27.4 23.5
Married 44.5 44.9 36.1 42.5 42.2 39.2 54.6 43.3 49.2
Marriage-like relationship 9.1 10.0 11.4 7.4 10.8 7.3 4.6 11.6 5.9
Separated, divorced, widowed 4.9 3.5 2.9 3.9 5.1 2.0 8.7 5.8 6.5
Unknown 12.2 9.2 10.0 12.2 14.8 13.1 14.0 11.9 14.9
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)d 49.6 50.6 66.8 61.8 49.4 72.1 25.4 51.9 36.5
Master's earned (%) 70.9 51.9 49.9 76.6 81.8 67.0 87.1 85.1 83.4
Age at doctorate (median years) 32.0 30.9 29.3 30.2 32.2 29.4 38.7 33.8 34.7
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 9.3 8.3 6.8 7.9 9.5 7.0 15.0 11.0 11.5
From graduate school start 7.7 6.7 6.0 7.0 7.9 6.3 11.9 9.3 9.2
From doctoral program starte 5.7 5.7 5.4 5.7 6.0 5.3 6.0 7.0 5.7
* = value < 0.05%.
a Includes agricultural sciences and natural resources; biological and biomedical sciences; and health sciences.
b Non-science and engineering fields not shown separately.
c Includes respondents who did not report sex.
d 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.
e Time to doctorate from doctoral program start is based on master's degree entry if the master's degree was at the same 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, 2016.