The Wide Gender Gap in Doctoral Degree Awards in Specific Disciplines

In 2012 women earned 46.2 percent of all doctoral degrees awarded by universities in the United States, according to the latest data from the National Science Foundation. But the gender disparity in doctoral degree awards is quite large in particular academic fields.

In broad academic disciplines, women earned 70.2 percent of all doctorates in the health sciences and 68.7 percent of all doctorates in education but only 28.5 percent of all doctorates in the physical sciences and 22.5 percent of all doctorates in engineering.

Here are lists of specific degree fields where women made up the largest percentage of doctoral award recipients and the small percentage of doctoral award recipients in 2012.