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NCSES GSS 2012 DST 10 SAS Output Newer information icon. Newer information is available.
Table 10. Female graduate students in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field: 2006–12

Field 2006 2007olda 2007newa 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
All surveyed fields 297,825 299,671 307,490 311,179 303,120 297,171 291,550 291,056
   Science and engineering 211,106 218,295 227,273 231,997 237,749 240,481 242,732 242,548
      Science 183,162 188,321 196,801 200,460 204,431 206,028 208,991 207,997
         Agricultural sciences 6,299 6,444 6,627 6,891 7,485 7,819 8,026 8,229
         Biological sciences 39,369 40,651 40,754 41,334 41,818 42,571 42,833 43,206
            Anatomy 487 505 428 383 428 432 380 353
            Biochemistry 2,812 2,899 2,868 2,691 2,615 2,655 2,550 2,574
            Biology 9,056 9,042 8,891 9,226 9,494 9,582 9,474 9,096
            Biometry and epidemiology 2,985 3,330 3,412 3,560 3,395 3,747 3,927 4,549
            Biophysics 405 418 417 383 377 376 366 344
            Botany 962 977 940 945 971 979 985 913
            Cell biology 3,530 3,653 3,742 3,903 3,950 3,823 3,743 3,702
            Ecology 1,224 1,249 1,139 1,126 960 1,009 958 913
            Entomology and parasitology 518 507 507 504 512 550 539 571
            Genetics 1,317 1,284 1,274 1,277 1,351 1,373 1,401 1,356
            Microbiology, immunology, and virology 3,050 3,060 3,004 2,933 2,911 2,849 2,905 2,826
            Nutrition 3,941 4,117 3,865 4,172 4,300 4,479 4,400 4,348
            Pathology 981 999 964 1,011 910 835 801 722
            Pharmacology 1,664 1,679 1,671 1,679 1,772 1,755 1,709 1,733
            Physiology 1,275 1,277 1,460 1,505 1,425 1,466 1,490 1,515
            Zoology 586 571 595 466 476 508 634 654
            Biological sciences nec 4,576 5,084 5,577 5,570 5,971 6,153 6,571 7,037
         Communicationa ne ne 4,647 5,381 6,029 6,353 7,041 7,168
         Computer sciences 12,062 12,206 12,017 12,545 13,053 12,807 12,607 13,223
         Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 7,004 6,951 6,650 6,621 6,815 7,200 7,175 7,386
            Atmospheric sciences 367 395 419 449 447 484 477 509
            Geosciences 3,081 3,055 3,040 3,042 3,195 3,493 3,461 3,679
            Oceanography 1,497 1,464 1,439 1,433 1,431 1,423 1,494 1,481
            Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 2,059 2,037 1,752 1,697 1,742 1,800 1,743 1,717
         Family and consumer sciences and human sciencesa ne ne 2,327 2,958 3,203 3,461 3,721 3,385
         Mathematical sciences 7,693 7,781 7,678 7,751 7,979 8,127 8,360 8,618
            Mathematics and applied mathematics 5,772 5,751 5,648 5,540 5,787 5,768 5,899 6,028
            Statistics 1,921 2,030 2,030 2,211 2,192 2,359 2,461 2,590
         Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studiesa ne ne 2,560 3,234 3,809 4,493 3,431 3,067
         Neurosciencea na na 863 1,097 1,264 1,474 2,199 2,371
         Physical sciences 12,005 12,253 12,109 12,333 12,691 12,826 13,112 13,216
            Astronomy 407 414 414 410 431 423 423 423
            Chemistry 8,644 8,821 8,770 8,983 9,222 9,261 9,441 9,575
            Physics 2,710 2,776 2,768 2,758 2,846 2,899 2,979 2,992
            Physical sciences nec 244 242 157 182 192 243 269 226
         Psychologyb 43,703 45,594 45,116 44,615 42,536 40,238 40,921 40,585
            Clinical psychology 10,843 11,294 11,269 10,589 10,205 9,455 8,210 7,792
            Psychology, general 11,989 13,405 13,036 12,581 10,867 9,992 12,533 12,338
            Psychology nec 20,871 20,895 20,811 21,445 21,464 20,791 20,178 20,455
         Social sciences 55,027 56,441 55,453 55,700 57,749 58,659 59,565 57,543
            Agricultural economics 909 907 849 914 949 927 908 888
            Anthropology (cultural and social) 5,215 5,151 5,169 5,314 5,337 5,490 5,357 5,287
            Economics (except agricultural) 4,343 4,555 4,699 4,815 5,120 5,214 5,544 5,560
            Geography 2,002 1,971 1,971 1,999 2,071 2,172 2,195 2,150
            History and philosophy of science 428 482 449 496 409 316 266 243
            Linguistics 1,986 1,993 1,876 2,002 1,940 1,888 1,940 1,974
            Political science 22,239 22,146 21,820 21,696 23,379 23,970 26,163 25,811
            Sociology 5,793 6,235 6,163 6,440 6,159 6,326 6,185 5,634
            Sociology and anthropology 547 552 455 424 371 218 204 185
            Social sciences nec 11,565 12,449 12,002 11,600 12,014 12,138 10,803 9,811
      Engineering 27,944 29,974 30,472 31,537 33,318 34,453 33,741 34,551
         Aerospace engineering 709 700 700 722 734 784 782 705
         Agricultural engineering 350 366 366 398 437 509 618 590
         Architecturea na na 1,974 2,612 2,997 3,044 1,443 1,116
         Biomedical engineering 2,486 2,610 2,621 2,761 2,979 3,133 3,459 3,503
         Chemical engineering 2,159 2,235 2,266 2,409 2,616 2,722 2,850 2,937
         Civil engineeringa 5,423 6,348 4,736 4,765 5,301 5,571 5,589 5,805
         Electrical engineering 7,026 7,367 7,439 7,340 7,174 7,193 7,430 7,773
         Engineering science 451 412 409 471 478 438 434 452
         Industrial engineering 3,466 3,520 3,544 3,714 3,800 3,684 3,610 3,699
         Mechanical engineering 2,485 2,615 2,614 2,749 2,990 3,186 3,163 3,465
         Metallurgical and materials engineering 1,390 1,460 1,473 1,533 1,589 1,754 1,876 1,977
         Mining engineering 43 51 37 49 55 77 93 61
         Nuclear engineering 214 226 221 214 198 228 225 225
         Petroleum engineering 135 183 183 191 209 235 229 287
         Engineering nec 1,607 1,881 1,889 1,609 1,761 1,895 1,940 1,956
   Healthb 86,719 81,376 80,217 79,182 65,371 56,690 48,818 48,508
      Clinical medicine 15,533 16,306 15,350 16,347 16,445 17,857 18,788 18,838
         Anesthesiology 905 561 561 354 249 193 2 1
         Cardiology 11 29 29 22 20 22 27 17
         Endocrinology 21 24 24 47 33 31 33 31
         Gastroenterology 10 14 14 7 8 3 1 1
         Hematology 4 7 7 4 6 3 1 3
         Neurologya 1,571 1,820 932 782 676 552 107 89
         Obstetrics and gynecology 33 57 57 65 69 61 72 70
         Oncology and cancer research 195 207 152 154 156 136 147 142
         Ophthalmology 280 291 273 0 0 1 0 1
         Otorhinolaryngology 7 9 9 9 2 2 1 1
         Pediatrics 236 249 249 163 141 161 86 75
         Preventive medicine and community health 10,113 11,011 11,468 12,818 13,452 14,865 16,741 17,084
         Psychiatry 219 234 177 152 182 207 72 87
         Pulmonary disease 4 9 9 6 9 8 9 5
         Radiology 140 84 85 85 115 124 100 105
         Surgery 41 21 11 11 18 29 6 7
         Clinical medicine nec 1,743 1,679 1,293 1,668 1,309 1,459 1,383 1,119
      Other healthb 71,186 65,070 64,867 62,835 48,926 38,833 30,030 29,670
         Dental sciences 686 625 699 679 751 744 746 802
         Nursing 32,539 28,842 28,910 27,746 19,462 10,932 6,505 6,666
         Pharmaceutical sciences 3,532 2,670 2,722 2,211 2,298 2,227 2,150 2,302
         Speech pathology and audiology 13,850 14,974 14,980 14,755 13,590 13,531 13,357 13,059
         Veterinary sciences 1,309 1,293 1,510 1,597 1,362 1,415 1,187 1,129
         Other health nec 19,270 16,666 16,046 15,847 11,463 9,984 6,085 5,712

na = not applicable; data were not collected at this level of detail. ne = not eligible; data were not collected for this field prior to 2007.
nec = not elsewhere classified.
a In 2007, eligible fields were reclassified, newly eligible fields were added, and the survey was redesigned to improve coverage and coding of eligible units. “2007new” presents data as collected in 2007; “2007old” shows data as they would have been collected in prior years. The science fields Communication and Family and consumer sciences and human sciences were newly eligible in 2007; data for these two fields begin in 2007new. The science field Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies was also added to the code list in 2007; some data reported in this field were reported under other fields before 2007 and are included in those fields in 2007old. Neuroscience is reported as a separate field of science in 2007new; data were reported under health field Neurology in 2007old and previous years. Architecture is reported as a separate field of engineering in 2007new; data were reported under Civil engineering in 2007old and previous years. See appendix A in http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.
b Beginning with 2008, more rigorous follow-up was done with institutions regarding the exclusion of practitioner-oriented graduate degree programs in Psychology and in Other health (a subfield of health). This change may affect interpretation of trends in these fields.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.
Data from survey cycle Fall 2012, as of December 2013.