The Significant Gender Gap in Degree Attainments in the United States

A new report from the U.S. Department of Education shows that women continue to hold a large lead over men in new degree attainments. During the 2015-16 academic year, women earned 2,855,581 degrees and certificates at degree-granting institutions in the United States. For men the figure was 2,036,307. Thus, women won 58.4 percent of all awards.

During the 2015-16 academic year, women were awarded 616,179 associate’s degrees. This was 61.1 percent of all associate’s degree awards. For bachelor’s degrees, women earned 1,098,939 compared to 821,779 for men. Therefore, women earned 57.2 percent of all bachelor’s degrees awarded that year.

Women’s earned 59.2 percent of all master’s degrees in the 2015-16 academic year. Women earned 54 percent of all professional practice doctorates in fields such as medicine, law, dentistry, veterinary medicine, etc. And women also won a slight majority of all research doctorates.

The full report, Postsecondary Institutions and Cost of Attendance in 2016-17; Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2015-16; and 12-Month Enrollment: 2015-16: First Look, may be downloaded by clicking here.