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Table 10. Female graduate students in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field: 2011–16

Field 2011 2012 2013 2014olda 2014newa 2015 2016
All surveyed fields 291,550 291,056 291,380 294,727 300,745 309,101 309,256
Science and engineering 242,732 242,548 245,387 248,221 253,493 259,585 261,575
Science 208,991 207,997 208,989 209,264 213,803 219,076 220,220
Agricultural sciences 8,026 8,229 8,334 8,665 8,968 9,618 9,560
Biological sciences 42,833 43,206 43,479 43,054 44,593 45,481 45,218
Anatomy 380 353 270 272 280 307 246
Biochemistry 2,550 2,574 2,400 2,423 2,423 2,309 2,184
Biology 9,474 9,096 8,848 9,002 9,340 9,355 9,330
Biometry and epidemiology 3,927 4,549 5,005 4,851 4,915 5,340 5,345
Biophysics 366 344 328 306 306 305 323
Botany and plant biology 985 913 930 938 938 921 906
Cell and molecular biology 3,743 3,702 3,595 3,359 3,389 3,523 3,577
Ecology 958 913 787 756 756 707 782
Entomology and parasitology 539 571 618 651 651 636 581
Genetics 1,401 1,356 1,345 1,397 1,425 1,419 1,418
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,905 2,826 2,844 2,645 2,658 2,589 2,644
Nutrition 4,400 4,348 4,385 4,466 4,730 4,692 4,387
Pathology 801 722 652 612 612 622 586
Pharmacology and toxicology 1,709 1,733 1,672 1,619 1,619 1,548 1,595
Physiology 1,490 1,515 1,656 1,702 1,766 1,892 2,055
Zoology 634 654 770 651 693 593 466
Biosciences nec 6,571 7,037 7,374 7,404 8,092 8,723 8,793
Communication 7,041 7,168 7,265 7,463 7,804 7,710 8,200
Computer sciences 12,607 13,223 14,688 18,705 21,038 24,115 26,921
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 7,175 7,386 7,196 6,965 7,144 7,068 6,916
Atmospheric sciences 477 509 501 533 538 523 533
Geosciences 3,461 3,679 3,674 3,626 3,630 3,667 3,554
Ocean sciences 1,494 1,481 1,525 1,423 1,528 1,473 1,603
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 1,743 1,717 1,496 1,383 1,448 1,405 1,226
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 3,721 3,385 3,342 3,456 3,568 3,425 3,120
Mathematics and statistics 8,360 8,618 8,744 9,074 9,234 9,641 10,191
Mathematics and applied mathematics 5,899 6,028 6,005 6,053 6,176 6,212 6,727
Statistics 2,461 2,590 2,739 3,021 3,058 3,429 3,464
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 3,431 3,067 2,871 3,083 3,445 3,922 4,497
Neurobiology and neuroscience 2,199 2,371 2,484 2,566 2,566 2,632 2,791
Physical sciences 13,112 13,216 13,018 13,078 13,118 13,131 13,240
Astronomy and astrophysics 423 423 422 427 427 446 482
Chemistry 9,441 9,575 9,369 9,336 9,352 9,302 9,277
Physics 2,979 2,992 3,009 3,112 3,128 3,139 3,204
Physical sciences nec 269 226 218 203 211 244 277
Psychology 40,921 40,585 40,570 37,900 36,243 37,007 35,492
Clinical psychology 8,210 7,792 7,693 7,105 6,783 6,857 6,473
Psychology, general 12,533 12,338 11,378 10,969 8,710 8,779 8,633
Psychology nec 20,178 20,455 21,499 19,826 20,750 21,371 20,386
Social sciences 59,565 57,543 56,998 55,255 56,082 55,326 54,074
Agricultural economics 908 888 816 822 822 894 770
Anthropology 5,357 5,287 5,260 5,096 5,126 4,952 4,806
Economics (except agricultural) 5,544 5,560 5,417 5,217 5,267 5,251 5,313
Geography 2,195 2,150 2,126 2,131 2,133 1,996 1,924
History and philosophy of science 266 243 194 186 189 195 185
Linguistics 1,940 1,974 2,143 2,136 2,136 2,049 1,914
Political science and government 26,163 25,811 25,498 24,911 24,877 24,628 24,392
Sociology 6,185 5,634 5,668 5,345 5,402 5,199 5,048
Sociology and anthropology 204 185 157 132 132 144 145
Social sciences nec 10,803 9,811 9,719 9,279 9,998 10,018 9,577
Engineering 33,741 34,551 36,398 38,957 39,690 40,509 41,355
Aerospace engineering 782 705 741 775 775 811 794
Agricultural engineering 618 590 644 698 704 661 649
Architecture 1,443 1,116 1,001 886 888 730 804
Biomedical engineering 3,459 3,503 3,665 3,810 3,810 3,911 4,207
Chemical engineering 2,850 2,937 3,023 3,102 3,107 3,172 3,273
Civil engineering 5,589 5,805 5,881 6,064 6,093 6,171 6,200
Electrical engineering 7,430 7,773 9,155 10,389 10,961 11,227 10,880
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 434 452 420 426 429 354 407
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 3,610 3,699 3,642 3,751 3,824 4,076 4,125
Mechanical engineering 3,163 3,465 3,636 3,758 3,772 3,962 4,128
Metallurgical and materials engineering 1,876 1,977 2,021 2,160 2,181 2,275 2,479
Mining engineering 93 61 62 76 76 74 74
Nuclear engineering 225 225 221 221 221 236 242
Petroleum engineering 229 287 335 414 414 399 366
Engineering nec 1,940 1,956 1,951 2,427 2,435 2,450 2,727
Health 48,818 48,508 45,993 46,506 47,252 49,516 47,681
Clinical medicine 18,788 18,838 18,795 19,087 19,125 20,346 19,644
Anesthesiology 2 1 3 5 5 10 1
Cardiovascular science 27 17 14 12 12 16 19
Endocrinology 33 31 27 30 30 32 32
Gastroenterology 1 1 0 0 0 0 2
Hematology 1 3 0 0 0 0 1
Neurology 107 89 0 0 0 0 4
Obstetrics and gynecology 72 70 55 17 17 14 12
Oncology and cancer research 147 142 59 31 31 21 26
Ophthalmology 0 1 0 19 19 0 0
Otorhinolaryngology 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Pediatrics 86 75 0 0 0 0 8
Preventive medicine and community health 16,741 17,084 17,407 17,627 17,644 18,633 18,132
Psychiatry 72 87 0 0 0 0 64
Pulmonary disease 9 5 8 0 0 0 1
Radiology 100 105 58 27 43 48 40
Surgery 6 7 0 0 0 1 2
Clinical medicine nec 1,383 1,119 1,163 1,319 1,324 1,571 1,300
Other health 30,030 29,670 27,198 27,419 28,127 29,170 28,037
Communication disorders sciences 13,357 13,059 13,277 13,491 13,957 14,300 14,388
Dental sciences 746 802 890 879 879 878 953
Nursing science 6,505 6,666 4,439 4,257 4,286 4,758 4,837
Pharmaceutical sciences 2,150 2,302 2,140 2,253 2,329 2,396 2,113
Veterinary sciences 1,187 1,129 1,239 1,291 1,291 1,375 1,161
Other health nec 6,085 5,712 5,213 5,248 5,385 5,463 4,585
nec = not elsewhere classified.
a In 2014, the survey frame was updated following a comprehensive frame evaluation study. The study identified potentially eligible but not previously surveyed academic institutions in the United States with master's- or doctorate-granting programs in science, engineering, or health. A total of 151 newly eligible institutions were added, and two private for-profit institutions offering mostly practitioner-based graduate degrees were determined to be ineligible.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.