Women help Ph.D. numbers swell by a third in 10 years, University of Chicago study shows

As a result of the large increase in women seeking graduate education, universities in the United States are awarding a record number of Ph.D. degrees, according to a federal agency report by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

The 382 universities in the country that grant research doctorates awarded 42,705 Ph.D.s during the 1996-97 academic year, an increase of 32 percent over the number awarded during the 1986-87 academic year.

Among those doctorates, 17,322, or 40.6 percent, went to women, the highest percentage and highest number ever.

This increase in the number of female doctorate recipients represents one of the most remarkable changes in higher education during the past decade, according to Allen Sanderson, Senior Research Scientist at NORC and Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Chicago, who prepared the report. The number of women receiving Ph.D.s was 20 percent higher in 1997 than in 1992, 52 percent above the total of a decade ago and a seven-fold increase since 1967. The number of men receiving Ph.D.s has remained constant at about 25,000 during the past 10 years. The number of women seeking Ph.D.s continues to increase, Sanderson said.

“Universities have been encouraging women and minorities to seek advanced degrees, and this report shows that this effort to increase diversity has paid off,” he said.

“This marks the 12th consecutive year of increase in the number of doctorates earned, something not seen since the double-digit annual growth period of the 1960s and early 1970s,” Sanderson said. The number of advanced degrees in other fields, such as medicine and law, has remained relatively unchanged year to year, he said.

Sanderson co-wrote the report, “Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities,” with Bernard Dugoni, Senior Survey Methodologist at NORC. The report is an annual joint publication of a number of federal agencies, including (National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Endowment for the Humanities, U.S. Department of Education and USDA.

The increase of Ph.D.s in particular fields als reflects the impact of women. More degrees were given in the life sciences, a field in which women are more strongly represented than in any other. In 1997, 19.2 percent of Ph.D.s were awarded in the life sciences, and 15.4 percent of Ph.D.s were granted in the physical sciences and mathematics. By contrast, in 1967, 21.2 percent of Ph.D.s were given in the physical sciences and mathematics, compared to 15.4 in the life sciences.

The total number of U.S. Ph.D.s going to minority group members in 1997–3,840–is 8.4 percent higher than the number given during the previous year. The number of Ph.D.s going to minority group members increased by 39.8 percent from the 1992 figure and by 87.7 percent since 1987.

During the 10-year period from 1987 to 1997, the number of Asian Americans receiving Ph.D.s doubled. “However, black, Hispanic and American Indian percentage increases also were sizable–73.2 percent, 66.6 percent and 30 percent respectively,” Sanderson said.

As the data showed for women, minority group members also were represented in certain fields. Asian-American students were concentrated in the physical and life sciences and engineering, whereas members of other minority groups tended to be concentrated in education and the social sciences. In fields where the percentages of women or minorities are small, such as engineering and physics, doctorate awards are declining due to a decrease in recipients from Asian countries.

Among other findings in the report are these:

• U.S. citizens received 70.8 percent of all doctorates earned. China was the leading country of origin for foreign students with 2,408 doctorates. Other leading countries of origin were India (1,368), Taiwan (1,209), Korea (1,071) and Canada (403).
• The typical Ph.D. recipient is 33 years old and has spent about seven years seeking the degree.
• About half of U.S. citizens with Ph.D.s planned to enter academic employment after graduation. About one-fourth were headed for industry or self-employment, and 7.3 percent expected to work for the government.
• “The growth in full-time, tenure-track faculty appointments has not kept pace with the number of Ph.D. graduates, but many of these graduates are finding opportunities in nonacademic fields because the job market is so good,” Sanderson said. “People also seek a Ph.D. for other reasons, simply because of a love of learning. That interest also is reflected in these numbers,” he said.