The share of doctorates earned in education has shrunk by more than half over 30 years, while the share earned in engineering has doubled.
1981 | 2011 | |||
Field of study | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage |
All fields | 31,355 | 100.0% | 49,010 | 100.0% |
Life sciences | 5,665 | 18.1% | 11,467 | 23.4% |
Agricultural sciences, natural resources | 1,205 | 3.8% | 1,209 | 2.5% |
Biological, biomedical sciences | 3,803 | 12.1% | 8,135 | 16.6% |
Health sciences | 657 | 2.1% | 2,123 | 4.3% |
Physical sciences | 4,116 | 13.1% | 8,678 | 17.7% |
Chemistry | 1,612 | 5.1% | 2,439 | 5.0% |
Computer and information sciences | 232 | 0.7% | 1,711 | 3.5% |
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences | 529 | 1.7% | 856 | 1.7% |
Mathematics | 728 | 2.3% | 1,607 | 3.3% |
Physics and astronomy | 1,015 | 3.2% | 2,065 | 4.2% |
Social sciences | 6,317 | 20.1% | 8,120 | 16.6% |
Anthropology | 369 | 1.2% | 555 | 1.1% |
Economics | 824 | 2.6% | 1,124 | 2.3% |
Political science | 445 | 1.4% | 686 | 1.4% |
Psychology | 3,358 | 10.7% | 3,594 | 7.3% |
Sociology | 605 | 1.9% | 656 | 1.3% |
Other social sciences | 716 | 2.3% | 1,505 | 3.1% |
Engineering | 2,528 | 8.1% | 8,004 | 16.3% |
Aerospace/aeronautical engineering | 97 | 0.3% | 261 | 0.5% |
Chemical engineering | 296 | 0.9% | 826 | 1.7% |
Civil engineering | 287 | 0.9% | 636 | 1.3% |
Electrical/electronics engineering | 0 | 0.0% | 1,891 | 3.9% |
Industrial/manufacturing engineering | 66 | 0.2% | 263 | 0.5% |
Materials-science engineering | 113 | 0.4% | 662 | 1.4% |
Mechanical engineering | 282 | 0.9% | 1,084 | 2.2% |
Other engineering | 1,387 | 4.4% | 2,381 | 4.9% |
Education | 7,497 | 23.9% | 4,691 | 9.6% |
Education administration | 1,659 | 5.3% | 926 | 1.9% |
Education research | 3,168 | 10.1% | 2,453 | 5.0% |
Teacher education | 639 | 2.0% | 205 | 0.4% |
Teaching fields | 1,437 | 4.6% | 808 | 1.6% |
Other education | 594 | 1.9% | 299 | 0.6% |
Humanities | 3,575 | 11.4% | 5,214 | 10.6% |
Foreign language and literature | 576 | 1.8% | 646 | 1.3% |
History | 692 | 2.2% | 1,066 | 2.2% |
Letters | 1,052 | 3.4% | 1,515 | 3.1% |
Other humanities | 1,255 | 4.0% | 1,987 | 4.1% |
Other | 1,657 | 5.3% | 2,836 | 5.8% |
Business and management | 624 | 2.0% | 1,328 | 2.7% |
Communication | 240 | 0.8% | 651 | 1.3% |
Fields not elsewhere classified | 793 | 2.5% | 857 | 1.7% |
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding.
Source: Survey of Earned Doctorates, National Science Foundation and five other federal agencies
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