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Table 62. Statistical profile of doctorate recipients in psychology and social sciences fields, by sex and field of study: 2016

Characteristic All psychology and social sciences fields Psychology Anthropology Economics Political science and government Sociology Other social sciences
All doctorate recipients (number)a 9,078 3,946 460 1,238 745 615 2,074
Sex (%)
Male 41.3 28.8 37.2 66.2 62.0 42.1 43.3
Female 58.7 71.2 62.8 33.8 38.0 57.9 56.7
Unknown 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 75.2 85.4 78.3 42.1 77.7 82.6 71.9
Temporary visa holder 19.3 7.8 16.5 53.2 17.2 14.5 24.1
Unknown 5.4 6.8 5.2 4.8 5.1 2.9 4.1
Marital status (%)
Never married 27.7 26.4 27.4 35.3 28.9 23.4 26.9
Married 44.0 40.8 45.0 41.2 46.2 51.5 48.6
Marriage-like relationship 10.3 10.3 12.8 9.6 10.5 13.0 9.2
Separated, divorced, widowed 4.0 3.8 5.0 2.3 2.4 4.4 5.5
Unknown 14.0 18.8 9.8 11.6 12.1 7.6 9.9
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 48.4 61.6 37.8 51.4 55.0 39.5 24.2
Master's earned (%) 81.8 78.1 83.3 80.2 82.6 90.7 86.7
Age at doctorate (median years) 32.5 31.4 35.0 31.1 32.8 33.7 34.7
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 9.5 8.6 12.0 8.3 10.1 10.9 11.3
From graduate school start 7.9 7.0 9.3 7.0 8.2 8.9 9.3
From doctoral program startc 6.0 6.0 7.7 5.7 6.3 7.0 6.2
Male doctorate recipients (number) 3,749 1,138 171 820 462 259 899
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 70.1 85.2 74.3 44.0 76.2 77.6 68.5
Temporary visa holder 24.9 8.3 22.2 51.2 19.3 18.1 27.3
Unknown 5.0 6.5 3.5 4.8 4.5 4.2 4.2
Marital status (%)
Never married 28.7 27.9 26.9 34.9 28.8 23.6 25.9
Married 46.6 42.6 46.8 42.6 46.5 53.3 53.3
Marriage-like relationship 9.5 9.5 14.6 9.8 9.5 11.6 7.7
Separated, divorced, widowed 2.3 2.5 D 1.8 1.9 D 3.0
Unknown 12.9 17.6 D 11.0 13.2 D 10.1
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 46.9 59.8 39.2 52.1 53.9 38.2 26.5
Master's earned (%) 81.9 77.6 80.7 81.0 83.5 89.6 85.5
Age at doctorate (median years) 32.8 32.0 35.2 31.2 33.0 34.2 35.3
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 9.6 8.6 11.3 8.3 10.1 11.0 11.3
From graduate school start 7.8 7.0 9.0 7.0 8.2 9.0 9.3
From doctoral program startc 5.9 5.9 7.3 5.7 6.3 6.9 6.0
Female doctorate recipients (number) 5,329 2,808 289 418 283 356 1,175
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 78.9 85.5 80.6 38.3 80.2 86.2 74.5
Temporary visa holder 15.4 7.5 13.1 56.9 13.8 11.8 21.6
Unknown 5.7 6.9 6.2 4.8 6.0 2.0 3.9
Marital status (%)
Never married 27.1 25.7 27.7 36.1 29.0 23.3 27.6
Married 42.2 40.0 43.9 38.5 45.6 50.3 44.9
Marriage-like relationship 10.8 10.7 11.8 9.3 12.0 14.0 10.3
Separated, divorced, widowed 5.1 4.3 D 3.3 3.2 D 7.4
Unknown 14.8 19.3 D 12.7 10.2 D 9.8
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 49.4 62.3 37.0 50.0 56.9 40.4 22.5
Master's earned (%) 81.8 78.3 84.8 78.7 80.9 91.6 87.6
Age at doctorate (median years) 32.2 31.3 34.5 30.7 32.6 33.6 34.3
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 9.5 8.6 12.0 8.2 10.0 10.9 11.3
From graduate school start 7.9 7.0 9.9 7.3 8.3 8.8 9.5
From doctoral program startc 6.0 6.0 7.7 5.7 6.7 7.0 6.3
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, 2016.