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 59,015 doctorates in 2025, an increase of 1,002 from the previous year. Of these, 28,801, or 48.8 percent, were earned by women. This is the highest number of women doctoral recipients in history. The percentage of all research doctorates earned by women increased slightly from 2024.
If we restrict the data to U.S. citizens and permanent residents of this country, we find that 19,655 women earned doctorates in 2025. This was 54.2 percent of all doctoral recipients among U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The number of U.S. women earning doctorates dropped for four straight years from 2017 to 2021. But in 2022, the number of U.S. women earning doctorates was up by nearly 10 percent. The number of women earning doctorates has increased slightly each year since 2023.
In 2025, there was a wide gender disparity in doctoral awards in specific disciplines. For example, women earned 69.2 percent of all doctorates in health sciences, 74.2 percent in education, and 75.9 percent of all doctorates in psychology.
In contrast, women earned only 35 percent of the doctorates in the physical sciences and 26.5 percent in computer science. In engineering, women earned 28.5 percent of the doctorates awarded in 2025, and in mathematics, women earned just 31 percent of all doctorates awarded.