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NCSES GSS 2012 GSS2012 21 SAS Output Newer information icon. Newer information is available.
Table 21. Graduate students in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field, citizenship, ethnicity, and race: 2012

  U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa  
  Not Hispanic or Latino  
Field Total Hispanic or
Latino		 American
Indian or
Alaska Native		 Asianb Black or
African
American		 Native Hawaiian
or Other Pacific
Islanderb		 White More than
one raceb		 Unknown
ethnicity
and race		 Temporary
visa holders
All surveyed fields 627,243 35,858 2,507 37,119 38,340 1,176 287,786 8,714 32,197 183,546
   Science and engineering 561,418 31,406 2,188 32,700 31,338 920 250,783 7,578 28,430 176,075
      Science 413,033 25,371 1,910 22,878 27,414 781 201,326 6,071 22,291 104,991
         Agricultural sciences 16,234 824 96 381 491 26 10,031 193 634 3,558
         Biological sciences 76,447 4,463 314 6,624 3,677 163 38,878 1,020 3,643 17,665
            Anatomy 700 50 3 41 38 2 375 8 40 143
            Biochemistry 5,245 262 23 435 170 15 2,286 53 237 1,764
            Biology 16,321 1,097 66 1,062 823 30 8,806 257 838 3,342
            Biometry and epidemiology 7,800 347 18 1,006 519 25 3,195 152 372 2,166
            Biophysics 976 48 3 94 17 1 473 10 44 286
            Botany 1,852 68 10 89 15 4 914 36 53 663
            Cell biology 6,799 395 25 636 233 17 3,132 88 293 1,980
            Ecology 1,667 69 15 46 13 7 1,163 15 132 207
            Entomology and parasitology 1,187 57 6 43 19 0 718 16 56 272
            Genetics 2,342 115 15 158 83 7 1,264 13 87 600
            Microbiology, immunology, and virology 4,950 328 33 426 232 4 2,720 58 177 972
            Nutrition 5,336 297 17 440 274 7 3,149 72 206 874
            Pathology 1,196 73 5 90 56 2 640 6 52 272
            Pharmacology 3,088 150 9 271 222 14 1,402 33 117 870
            Physiology 3,046 149 14 348 146 7 1,626 34 97 625
            Zoology 1,083 32 6 32 11 4 786 28 68 116
            Biological sciences nec 12,859 926 46 1,407 806 17 6,229 141 774 2,513
         Communication 11,010 753 44 337 1,021 27 6,213 223 577 1,815
         Computer sciences 51,789 1,647 85 3,337 2,179 58 14,765 459 2,432 26,827
         Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 16,069 737 88 457 314 14 10,138 255 860 3,206
            Atmospheric sciences 1,546 72 3 46 38 0 976 10 54 347
            Geosciences 8,659 358 62 207 131 3 5,419 164 437 1,878
            Oceanography 2,642 166 8 74 23 2 1,760 39 132 438
            Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 3,222 141 15 130 122 9 1,983 42 237 543
         Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 4,110 270 16 138 636 13 2,418 63 119 437
         Mathematical sciences 24,575 956 35 1,568 755 31 10,067 232 1,096 9,835
            Mathematics and applied mathematics 18,577 820 33 1,094 623 26 8,331 201 854 6,595
            Statistics 5,998 136 2 474 132 5 1,736 31 242 3,240
         Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 6,038 402 41 248 381 9 3,197 101 568 1,091
         Neuroscience 4,547 297 17 388 154 5 2,637 79 233 737
         Physical sciences 39,928 1,450 100 2,001 987 36 17,691 428 1,584 15,651
            Astronomy 1,278 38 3 63 8 0 737 20 65 344
            Chemistry 23,117 954 59 1,318 758 20 10,037 259 858 8,854
            Physics 14,940 438 35 591 184 15 6,613 135 628 6,301
            Physical sciences nec 593 20 3 29 37 1 304 14 33 152
         Psychologyc 54,117 5,423 340 2,443 5,516 104 32,276 1,023 3,891 3,101
            Clinical psychology 9,971 1,297 75 574 729 28 5,937 147 843 341
            Psychology, general 17,073 1,515 113 770 2,144 29 9,916 395 1,233 958
            Psychology nec 27,073 2,611 152 1,099 2,643 47 16,423 481 1,815 1,802
         Social sciences 108,169 8,149 734 4,956 11,303 295 53,015 1,995 6,654 21,068
            Agricultural economics 2,045 65 3 90 55 1 807 24 64 936
            Anthropology (cultural and social) 8,247 583 113 257 231 21 5,179 219 680 964
            Economics (except agricultural) 14,959 431 23 693 477 21 4,577 137 587 8,013
            Geography 5,016 224 31 157 141 5 3,184 85 326 863
            History and philosophy of science 508 18 4 4 9 2 343 9 36 83
            Linguistics 3,256 196 29 202 62 2 1,491 52 201 1,021
            Political science 48,855 4,020 284 2,470 6,733 139 24,620 884 3,406 6,299
            Sociology 8,887 880 73 384 1,071 16 4,624 211 415 1,213
            Sociology and anthropology 270 28 1 5 66 0 134 2 26 8
            Social sciences nec 16,126 1,704 173 694 2,458 88 8,056 372 913 1,668
      Engineering 148,385 6,035 278 9,822 3,924 139 49,457 1,507 6,139 71,084
         Aerospace engineering 5,069 263 13 333 79 4 2,563 65 294 1,455
         Agricultural engineering 1,552 38 3 46 32 1 513 16 34 869
         Architecture 2,363 153 11 101 145 2 1,093 36 91 731
         Biomedical engineering 9,157 424 18 1,371 265 12 3,704 132 387 2,844
         Chemical engineering 9,222 296 16 626 171 7 3,032 73 252 4,749
         Civil engineering 19,922 1,177 49 1,133 550 19 7,911 368 777 7,938
         Electrical engineering 42,347 1,219 56 2,735 823 21 8,722 258 1,467 27,046
         Engineering science 2,227 65 3 133 36 2 799 26 149 1,014
         Industrial engineering 14,469 692 35 807 681 15 4,849 114 1,040 6,236
         Mechanical engineering 23,088 1,012 34 1,447 431 21 8,745 243 926 10,229
         Metallurgical and materials engineering 6,985 240 9 427 121 18 2,346 58 206 3,560
         Mining engineering 356 5 0 8 7 0 154 5 16 161
         Nuclear engineering 1,513 68 3 47 19 1 942 16 100 317
         Petroleum engineering 1,525 36 2 52 49 0 234 0 16 1,136
         Engineering nec 8,590 347 26 556 515 16 3,850 97 384 2,799
   Health 65,825 4,452 319 4,419 7,002 256 37,003 1,136 3,767 7,471
      Clinical medicine 26,798 2,038 163 2,457 4,624 73 12,473 517 1,688 2,765
         Anesthesiology 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
         Cardiology 44 0 0 1 2 0 16 0 0 25
         Endocrinology 52 4 0 6 8 1 18 0 3 12
         Gastroenterology 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
         Hematology 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
         Neurologya 171 10 0 24 10 2 91 1 5 28
         Obstetrics and gynecology 91 3 1 16 7 0 44 0 2 18
         Oncology and cancer research 248 7 1 20 14 0 140 5 8 53
         Ophthalmology 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
         Otorhinolaryngology 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
         Pediatrics 125 4 0 3 2 0 65 4 10 37
         Preventive medicine and community health 23,700 1,882 152 2,100 4,387 68 10,812 479 1,534 2,286
         Psychiatry 100 2 0 8 39 0 42 0 0 9
         Pulmonary disease 12 1 0 1 1 0 8 0 0 1
         Radiology 335 12 2 19 11 0 193 5 14 79
         Surgery 35 0 0 1 2 0 25 0 1 6
         Clinical medicine nec 1,871 113 7 254 140 2 1,016 23 111 205
      Other healthc 39,027 2,414 156 1,962 2,378 183 24,530 619 2,079 4,706
         Dental sciences 1,707 75 4 178 32 6 806 6 67 533
         Nursing 7,449 388 56 382 788 36 4,753 194 555 297
         Pharmaceutical sciences 4,256 136 17 342 214 6 1,421 14 128 1,978
         Speech pathology and audiology 13,918 984 33 475 523 90 10,468 192 773 380
         Veterinary sciences 1,794 59 4 59 63 2 981 14 97 515
         Other health nec 9,903 772 42 526 758 43 6,101 199 459 1,003

nec = not elsewhere classified.
a Ethnicity and race data are available only for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
b Reporting of ethnicity and race in 2008–12 has been affected by changes in the reporting of ethnicity and race in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Starting in 2008, IPEDS respondents were asked to use a new classification that included a category for two or more races (see http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/reic/resource.asp) and separate reporting of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders from Asians. The new classification was optional in 2008 and 2009 IPEDS but mandatory beginning in 2010 and may have contributed to a significant increase in the reporting of Not Hispanic or Latino, More than one race.
c 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, 2012.
Data from survey cycle Fall 2012, as of December 2013.