Science and engineering (S&E) doctorates awarded
by U.S. institutions to minorities (Asians, blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaska Natives)[1] have
been generally increasing in number and percentage over
the past couple of decades, but their doctorate numbers
and the numbers of minority doctoral S&E faculty
remain small, especially in the leading research institutions.[2] This InfoBrief examines the characteristics of
minority faculty with S&E doctorates, the types of
schools from which they earn their doctorates, the types
of schools in which they teach, and how they compare to
nonminority faculty.
Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians, as a group,
earned about 2,200 S&E doctorates from U.S. universities
in 2003, about 9% of all S&E doctorates (NSF 2004).
Blacks earned 835, Hispanics earned 1,336, and American
Indians/Alaska Natives earned 75 S&E doctorates in
2003. Asians earned 6,632 S&E doctorates in 2003,
about 26% of all S&E doctorates. Of these, 1,030 were
awarded to U.S. citizens and 525 to permanent visa
holders.
Among employed S&E doctorate holders in 2003, higher
percentages of blacks (62%) and Hispanics (59%) than
of all other racial/ethnic groups (37–49%) were
employed in education in 2003 in a variety of settings
and appointments. About 49% of white and 37% of
Asian S&E doctorate holders in the United States were
employed in education (table 1). Differences in field of
doctorate account for some of the differences in
employment by sector. Black, Hispanic, and American
Indian/Alaska Native doctorate holders are more likely
than white and Asian doctorate holders to have doctorates
in social and behavioral sciences, fields in which
academic employment is prevalent (NSF 2003).
Table 1 Source Data: Excel file
Characteristics of Minority Faculty with S&E
Doctorates
Of the approximately 280,000 S&E doctorates employed[3]
in educational institutions in 2003, 214,000 were
faculty in universities and colleges. Of these, 12% were
Asian, 4% black, 3% Hispanic, and less than 1%
American Indian/Alaska Native (table 2). Because the
fraction of science and engineering doctorates awarded
to minorities has increased over time, minorities are a
higher percentage of faculty with recent S&E doctorates
than they are of all faculty with S&E doctorates.
Among faculty who received S&E doctorates in 2000
or later, 16% were Asian, 7% were black, 4% were
Hispanic, and less than 1% were American Indian/Alaska Native.
Table 2 Source Data: Excel file
Differences in years since doctorate are likely to
account for some of the differences by race/ethnicity in rank and tenure. Smaller percentages of black, Hispanic,
and Asian doctoral faculty with S&E doctorates than of white and American Indian/Alaska Native such
faculty are full professors and larger percentages are
assistant professors. Similarly, smaller percentages of
blacks, Hispanics, and Asians than of whites and American Indians/Alaska Natives are tenured.
As is the case with field of doctorate, faculty with S&E
doctorates differ by race/ethnicity in field of employment.
A higher percentage of black faculty than of all
other faculty with S&E doctorates are employed as
non-S&E faculty (figure 1). A lower percentage of
Asian than of all other faculty with S&E doctorates are
employed as social science faculty and a higher
percentage are computer science, mathematics, or
engineering faculty.
Figure 1 Source Data: Excel file
Minority faculty with S&E doctorates also differ in
citizenship status and sex. About one-third each of
black and Hispanic, 90% of Asian, 10% of white, and
2% of American Indian/Alaska Native S&E doctoral
faculty members are non-U.S. born, most of them
naturalized citizens (table 2). Higher percentages of
black and Hispanic faculty with S&E doctorates are
female than is the case for other racial/ethnic groups.
From What Types of Schools Did They Earn
Their Doctorates?
Most (77%) faculty with S&E doctorates employed in
U.S. academic institutions earned their doctorates at Research I institutions.[4] Lower percentages of black,
Hispanic, and American Indian faculty (69%, 72%, and
68%, respectively) than of white or Asian faculty (77%
each) earned their doctorates at Research I institutions
and higher percentages earned them at Research II or
other types of doctorate-granting institutions (table 3). In
particular, a higher percentage of black faculty than of
all other groups earned their doctorates at Doctorate granting
I institutions.
Table 3 Source Data: Excel file
The majority of the top 20 (including ties) institutions
awarding S&E doctoral degrees to blacks, to Hispanics and to American Indians during 1999–2003 were
Research I institutions. About 9% of blacks earned
their S&E doctorate at historically black colleges and
universities (HBCU). Howard University was the
leading S&E doctorate-origin institution of blacks,
followed by the University of Michigan and the University
of Maryland. For Hispanics, Texas A&M was the
leading doctorate-origin institution, followed by the University of Texas, Austin, and the University of
California, Berkeley. For American Indians, Oklahoma
State; University of California, Berkeley; the University
of Oklahoma, Norman; and University of Washington, Seattle; were the leading doctorate-origin institutions
(NSF 2004).
Where Are They Employed?
Among faculty with S&E doctorates employed in U.S.
academic institutions in 2003, 37% were employed in
Research I institutions, 24% were employed in other
doctorate-granting institutions or medical schools, and
21% were employed in comprehensive (master's-granting) institutions (table 4). Black faculty with S&E doctorates differ from other racial/ethnic groups in that
a lower percentage were employed in Research I institutions and a higher percentage were employed in
comprehensive institutions. Twenty-eight percent of black faculty with S&E doctorates, compared with
about one-third of Hispanic and American Indian faculty with S&E doctorates, 37% of white faculty with
S&E doctorates, and 41% of Asian faculty with S&E
doctorates were employed in Research I institutions.
Table 4 Source Data: Excel file
Faculty with S&E doctorates who earned doctorates at
Research I institutions tend to teach at Research I institutions. Relatively small percentages (less than 20%)
of those who earned doctorates at Research II institutions
or doctorate-granting institutions are employed at
Research I institutions. Those who earned doctorates
from Research II or doctorate-granting institutions are
most likely to teach at comprehensive (master's-granting)
institutions (table 5).
Table 5 Source Data: Excel file
Among faculty who received their S&E doctorates
from Research I institutions, 35% of black faculty were employed in Research I institutions compared with 40–47% of faculty of most other racial/ethnic groups. A
higher percentage of black faculty (28%) than of most
other racial/ethnic groups (21% or less) were employed in comprehensive institutions.
The relative prevalence of black faculty in comprehensive institutions is at least partly attributable to their
prevalence in HBCUs (figure 2), most of which are comprehensive institutions. Although HBCUs are the
employers of only 2% of all faculty with S&E doctorates, they are the employers of 28% of black doctoral
S&E faculty.
Figure 2 Source Data: Excel file
Data Notes
This InfoBrief draws upon the National Science Foundation's 2003 Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR)
to describe the characteristics of minority faculty with science, engineering, or health doctorates. The SDR
provides data on people who have earned S&E or S&E-related doctorates from U.S. institutions and who
are employed in the United States. Thus, the faculty data included in this report refer only to U.S. faculty with doctoral degrees from U.S. institutions. The term
faculty in this report refers to full, associate, and assistant professors and instructors and includes
adjunct faculty.
The Carnegie classification used in this InfoBrief is the
1994 version of the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching's classification of academic
institutions. The 1994 classification system, although
the data used for classification are from the early
1990s, better describes the different institutional
characteristics for S&E than the subsequent 2000
version, which uses more aggregate categories. The
2005 version had not been released when this InfoBrief
was written.
References
National Science Foundation (NSF). 2003. Women,
Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science
and Engineering: 2002, NSF 03-312. Arlington, VA.
National Science Foundation (NSF). 2004. Women,
Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science
and Engineering: 2004, NSF 04-317. Tables updated
March 2006 at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/.
Arlington, VA.
National Science Foundation (NSF). 2005. Science
and Engineering Doctorate Awards: 2003, NSF 05-300. Arlington, VA.
For more information about this InfoBrief, contact:
Joan S. Burrelli
Science and Engineering Indicators Program
Division of Science Resources Statistics
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965
Arlington, VA 22230
703-292-7793
jburrell@nsf.gov
Footnotes
[1] In this report, the racial/ethnic categories are mutually
exclusive. The non-Hispanic white, black, Asian and American
Indian/Alaska Native categories are referred to here as white, black,
Asian, and American Indian/Alaska Native, respectively. Native
Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders and respondents choosing
multiple races (excluding those selecting an Hispanic ethnicity) are
included in the "other" race/ethnicity category. The faculty data
included in this report refer only to U.S. faculty with doctoral
degrees in science, engineering, or health fields from U.S. institutions.
See Data Notes at the end of this InfoBrief.
[2] Although the number of S&E doctorates awarded to Asians
is much larger than the numbers awarded to blacks, Hispanics, and
American Indians, most (85%) are to non-U.S. citizens on
permanent resident or temporary visas.
[3] Employment refers to principal employer during the week
of October 1, 2003, and includes both full- and part-time employment.
[4] The classification used here is the 1994 version of the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classification
of academic institutions. See Data Notes.
