U.S. Women Earned More PhDs Than Men Last Year

Last year, 78,778 doctoral degrees were awarded in the United States with women accounting for 53 percent of that total. That share is a record high and 2017 marks the ninth year running that women have earned the majority of doctoral degrees at U.S. universities. The data was revealed last week as part of the latest CGS/GRE Graduate Enrollment & Degrees: 2007-2017 report by the Council of Graduate Schools.

The following infographic provides an overview of the situation across the different subjects covered in the report. In Public Administration and Services (75.6 percent), Health Sciences (70.3 percent) and Education (68.8 percent), women accounted for the vast majority of doctoral degrees. They were also ahead of men in other areas including Social and Behavioral Sciences and Arts and Humanities. However, in most STEM fields, men still earned the higher share of degrees. In Engineering, men accounted for 76.6 percent of total graduates, along with 74.9 percent for Mathematics and Computer Sciences and 65.9 percent in Physical and Earth Sciences.