Women were far more likely than men to earn bachelor’s degrees in library science, family and consumer sciences, and the health professions, and far less likely to do so in mechanic and repair technologies, construction trades, and engineering technologies. At the doctoral level, the gap between the sexes was not as great, but women earned three-quarters of the doctorates in psychology and family and consumer sciences, and only 20 percent of those in computer science and 23 percent in engineering.
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| Agriculture, agriculture operations, and related sciences | 29,296 | 6,158 | 39.8% | 19,459 | 54.5% | 2,833 | 57.0% | 846 | 45.9% |
| Architecture and related services | 17,523 | 478 | 31.0% | 8,823 | 45.0% | 7,986 | 47.9% | 236 | 48.3% |
| Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies | 10,341 | 419 | 62.8% | 7,840 | 71.6% | 1,766 | 64.0% | 316 | 60.1% |
| Biological and biomedical sciences | 142,643 | 5,266 | 65.9% | 113,749 | 59.9% | 15,714 | 57.3% | 7,914 | 53.0% |
| Business, management, marketing, and related support services | 670,434 | 110,005 | 61.5% | 370,308 | 47.1% | 186,798 | 46.7% | 3,323 | 41.9% |
| Communication, journalism, and related programs | 109,618 | 6,759 | 58.7% | 92,554 | 65.0% | 9,676 | 70.4% | 629 | 59.3% |
| Communications technologies/technicians and support services | 9,888 | 4,569 | 31.7% | 4,824 | 35.8% | 491 | 50.7% | 4 | 50.0% |
| Computer and information sciences and support services | 137,081 | 30,569 | 21.1% | 64,405 | 18.7% | 40,128 | 30.8% | 1,979 | 20.1% |
| Construction trades | 4,924 | 4,699 | 5.4% | 225 | 7.6% | — | — | — | — |
| Education | 261,856 | 17,029 | 88.4% | 87,217 | 80.0% | 145,781 | 76.8% | 11,829 | 68.8% |
| Engineering | 173,965 | 5,285 | 14.7% | 106,850 | 20.9% | 51,621 | 25.0% | 10,209 | 23.4% |
| Engineering technologies and engineering-related fields | 49,986 | 27,241 | 13.6% | 16,548 | 12.1% | 6,064 | 26.8% | 133 | 31.6% |
| English language and literature/letters | 55,315 | 2,551 | 66.6% | 42,795 | 70.2% | 8,577 | 66.4% | 1,392 | 62.9% |
| Family and consumer sciences/human sciences | 37,921 | 8,930 | 95.8% | 25,389 | 88.3% | 3,228 | 85.7% | 374 | 74.6% |
| Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics | 25,305 | 2,208 | 77.4% | 18,427 | 68.8% | 3,405 | 65.6% | 1,265 | 59.7% |
| Health professions and related programs | 604,378 | 191,452 | 84.0% | 228,896 | 84.2% | 110,348 | 81.5% | 73,682 | 58.8% |
| History | 31,628 | 1,605 | 40.5% | 25,597 | 40.3% | 3,455 | 45.0% | 971 | 45.6% |
| Homeland security, law enforcement, firefighting, and related protective services | 111,017 | 39,899 | 44.0% | 61,157 | 46.7% | 9,756 | 49.8% | 205 | 47.3% |
| Legal professions and studies | 57,468 | 8,017 | 86.0% | 4,243 | 69.4% | 8,178 | 53.3% | 37,030 | 48.5% |
| Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities | 427,541 | 381,176 | 61.7% | 43,661 | 63.0% | 2,599 | 61.1% | 105 | 58.1% |
| Library science | 5,211 | 146 | 80.1% | 85 | 92.9% | 4,926 | 81.6% | 54 | 59.3% |
| Mathematics and statistics | 36,102 | 3,029 | 28.7% | 22,777 | 42.5% | 8,446 | 41.8% | 1,850 | 28.5% |
| Mechanic and repair technologies/technicians | 20,964 | 20,578 | 6.1% | 386 | 7.0% | — | — | — | — |
| Military technologies and applied sciences | 1,557 | 1,047 | 16.7% | 358 | 19.0% | 152 | 23.7% | — | — |
| Multi/interdisciplinary studies | 88,698 | 30,484 | 58.2% | 48,794 | 66.7% | 8,571 | 62.4% | 849 | 57.4% |
| Natural resources and conservation | 23,756 | 1,700 | 30.7% | 17,546 | 50.0% | 3,848 | 54.9% | 662 | 45.9% |
| Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies | 64,264 | 4,771 | 39.9% | 50,918 | 47.6% | 8,244 | 42.7% | 331 | 43.5% |
| Personal and culinary services | 19,645 | 18,223 | 60.7% | 1,386 | 58.2% | 36 | 88.9% | — | — |
| Philosophy and religious studies | 13,473 | 814 | 52.8% | 10,157 | 37.3% | 1,756 | 35.7% | 746 | 37.5% |
| Physical sciences | 48,569 | 5,520 | 41.1% | 29,996 | 38.7% | 7,039 | 37.6% | 6,014 | 32.3% |
| Precision production | 4,900 | 4,840 | 6.5% | 50 | 44.0% | 10 | 40.0% | — | — |
| Psychology | 162,220 | 10,603 | 75.6% | 117,440 | 77.6% | 27,645 | 79.9% | 6,532 | 74.6% |
| Public administration and social-service professions | 90,236 | 7,988 | 86.1% | 34,432 | 82.5% | 46,751 | 76.1% | 1,065 | 66.8% |
| Science technologies/technicians | 3,523 | 2,957 | 37.6% | 481 | 42.4% | 83 | 61.5% | 2 | 0.0% |
| Social sciences | 174,150 | 18,448 | 65.1% | 135,633 | 51.3% | 16,373 | 50.6% | 3,696 | 44.7% |
| Theology and religious vocations | 27,053 | 1,089 | 53.0% | 9,804 | 31.2% | 14,352 | 34.7% | 1,808 | 27.5% |
| Transportation and materials moving | 6,945 | 1,497 | 13.7% | 4,529 | 12.2% | 911 | 20.4% | 8 | 37.5% |
| Visual and performing arts | 133,011 | 20,176 | 60.4% | 92,979 | 60.5% | 18,048 | 57.5% | 1,808 | 52.6% |
| All fields | 3,892,405 | 1,008,225 | 61.1% | 1,920,718 | 57.2% | 785,595 | 59.2% | 177,867 | 52.7% |
Note: Data are for postsecondary institutions in the United States that are eligible to participate in Title IV federal financial-aid programs. The degrees counted were awarded from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016. Doctoral degrees include Ph.D., Ed.D., and comparable degrees, as well as professional degrees like M.D. and D.D.S. and law degrees. Only first majors were considered. A dash indicates the absence of data. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data