Ranking the States by the Percentage of Women Among Their Doctoral Degree Recipients

Data for the annual Survey of Earned Doctorates from the National Science Foundation, shows that universities in the United States conferred 55,006 doctorates in 2015. Of these, 25,403, or 46.2 percent, were earned by women. There is a wide disparity between the states in the awarding of doctoral degrees to women. Despite the fact that nationwide men earned 4,193 more doctoral degrees than women in 2015, there were several states where women earned more doctorates than men.

In Minnesota, women earned 54.6 percent of all doctorates awarded in 2015. This was the highest percentage in the nation. Maine ranked second and the District of Columbia ranked third. The only other states where women earned more doctorates than men were Mississippi and North Dakota.

In contrast, women earned only 36.6 percent of all doctorates in the state of Utah and 38.8 percent of all doctorates earned in the state of Wyoming.