The Gender Gap in African-American Degree Attainments

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that of the more than 3.2 million living African Americans who held bachelor’s degrees in 2010, 60.2 percent were women. For whites, women held only a slight edge over men in bachelor’s degree attainments.

In 2010, of the 1.2 million African Americans who held master’s degrees, 62.3 percent were women. Women held 55 percent of all master’s degrees won by whites.

For professional degrees, women held 59 percent of all degrees that had been awarded to African Americans. Nearly 53 percent of all African Americans holding a doctoral degree in 2010 were women. White men maintain a large lead over white women as holders of professional and doctoral degrees.