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

The National Science Foundation recently released its annual data on doctoral degree recipients in the United States. Data for the annual Survey of Earned Doctorates shows that universities in the United States conferred 55,693 doctorates in 2019. Of these, 25,420, or 45.9 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 more doctoral degrees than women in 2019, there were several states where women earned more doctorates than men.

For example, in Alaska, women earned 61.9 percent of all doctorates awarded in 2019. In Minnesota, women earned 57.6 percent of all doctorates awarded in 2019. In Maine, women earned 58 percent of all doctorates awarded. The only other states where women earned more doctorates than men were Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

In contrast, women earned only 30.4 percent of all doctorates in the state of South Dakota. In Montana, women earned 38.9 percent of all doctorates and 39.6 percent of all doctorates earned in the state of Utah went to women.