Statistical profile of persons receiving doctor's degrees in the physical sciences: 1979-80 to 1996-97

1999 Tables and Figures

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Table 308

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                                  |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |
                                  |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |
               Item               |1979-80|1980-81|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94|1994-95| 1995-96 | 1996-97
                                  |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |
__________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_________
                1                 |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |   8   |   9   |  10   |  11   |  12   |  13   |  14   |   15    |   16
__________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_________
     Number of doctorates ........| 3,151 | 3,208 | 3,531 | 3,679 | 3,840 | 4,045 | 3,984 | 4,262 | 4,441 | 4,575 | 4,470 | 4,799 | 4,618 |   4,632 |   4,573
                                  |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_________
Sex (percent)                     |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |
  Men ............................|  87.7 |  88.7 |  83.7 |  83.6 |  83.3 |  82.6 |  80.9 |  81.2 |  81.0 |  79.1 |  78.9 |  79.0 |  77.3 |    78.1 |    77.2
  Women ..........................|  12.3 |  11.3 |  16.3 |  16.4 |  16.7 |  17.4 |  19.2 |  18.8 |  19.0 |  20.9 |  21.1 |  21.0 |  22.7 |    21.9 |    22.8
Racial/ethnic group (percent)\1\  |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |
  American Indian ................|   0.2 |   0.1 |   0.1 |   0.2 |   0.3 |   0.3 |   0.6 |   0.1 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.3 |   0.2 |   0.3 |     0.3 |     0.4
  Asian ..........................|   7.7 |   6.9 |   6.9 |   7.1 |   7.0 |   5.7 |   6.7 |   6.6 |   6.6 |   8.9 |  10.2 |  20.8 |  25.3 |    18.9 |    16.1
  Black ..........................|   1.0 |   1.3 |   1.2 |   1.0 |   1.0 |   1.3 |   1.3 |   1.0 |   1.2 |   1.1 |   1.6 |   1.6 |   1.4 |     2.1 |     2.0
  Hispanic .......................|   1.1 |   1.3 |   1.7 |   2.1 |   2.4 |   2.6 |   2.6 |   3.1 |   2.9 |   3.2 |   3.4 |   2.6 |   2.5 |     2.8 |     2.6
  White ..........................|  90.0 |  90.5 |  90.1 |  89.5 |  89.3 |  90.1 |  88.8 |  89.3 |  88.8 |  86.4 |  84.5 |  74.8 |  70.6 |    76.0 |    78.9
Citizenship (percent)             |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |
  United States ..................|  75.9 |  75.4 |  70.3 |  66.1 |  65.1 |  64.3 |  62.5 |  61.0 |  59.3 |  57.9 |  57.1 |  56.3 |  56.7 |    54.7 |    57.5
  Foreign ........................|  21.6 |  21.3 |  25.5 |  27.8 |  28.5 |  28.8 |  29.8 |  32.4 |  35.9 |  39.6 |  39.7 |  41.7 |  41.7 |    41.8 |    36.3
  Unknown ........................|   2.4 |   3.3 |   4.1 |   6.1 |   6.4 |   6.9 |   7.8 |   6.7 |   4.8 |   2.5 |   3.2 |   2.1 |   1.8 |     3.5 |     6.2
Median age at doctorate (years) ..|  29.1 |  29.0 |  29.5 |  29.9 |  29.8 |  30.1 |  30.0 |  30.7 |  30.2 |  30.3 |  30.6 |  30.7 |  30.7 |    30.8 |    30.4
Percent with bachelor's degree in |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |
  same field as doctorate ........|  76.5 |  76.6 |  75.0 |  73.4 |  72.6 |  72.6 |  72.6 |  80.0 |  76.9 |  74.5 |  72.9 |  73.0 |  70.8 |    74.3 |    65.4
Median time lapse from bachelor's |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |
  to doctorate (years)            |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |
  Total time .....................|   6.8 |   6.7 |   7.1 |   7.1 |   7.1 |   7.2 |   7.2 |   7.8 |   7.5 |   7.8 |   8.0 |   8.2 |   8.1 |     8.0 |     7.5
  Registered time ................|   5.7 |   5.7 |   6.0 |   6.0 |   5.9 |   6.1 |   6.0 |   6.3 |   6.2 |   6.4 |   6.4 |   6.6 |   6.8 |     6.6 |     6.6
__________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_________

\1\Longitudinal comparisons by race/ethnicity should be done with extreme care, due to periodic changes in the survey. Distribution by race/ethnicity based on U.S. citizens and those with permanent visas only. NOTE.
--The National Research Council's classification of degrees by field differs somewhat from that in most publications of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Includes physics, astronomy, chemistry, and earth, atmospheric, and marine sciences. Excludes mathematics and computer science. The number of degrees also differs slightly from that reported in the NCES "Completions" survey. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Percents may not add to 100 due to rounding.

SOURCE: National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel, Doctorate Records File. (This table was prepared September 1999.)

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