Master’s Degrees Awarded in Many Disciplines Are Heavily Segregated by Gender

A new report from the Council of Graduate Schools finds that in the 2018-19 academic year, graduate schools in the United States awarded more than 571,000 master’s degrees. Of these, 332,815 were awarded to women. Thus women were 58.3 percent of all master’s degree recipients.

Women earned more than 71,000 master’s degrees in the field of education. They were 76.7 percent of all individuals who were awarded master’s degrees in educational fields. Women made up nearly 80 percent of all master’s degree recipients in health science fields and 78.7 percent of all master’s degree recipients in public administration. Women also earned a large share of all master’s degrees in the social and behavioral sciences.

In contrast, women received only 27.3 percent of all master’s degrees in engineering fields. In mathematics and computer science, women received just over a third of master’s degrees awarded in the 2018-19 academic year. Women earned 42.4 percent of all master’s degrees in physical and earth sciences and 45.3 percent of all master’s degrees in business.