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Table 1-2c. Sex of graduate students, postdoctoral appointees, and doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers in engineering: 1977–2017

Year Graduate students Postdoctoral appointees Doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers
Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
1977 68,757 65,051 94.6 3,706 5.4 na na na na na na na na na na
1978 67,787 NA NA NA NA na na na na na na na na na na
1979 71,808 65,921 91.8 5,887 8.2 1,067 1,017 95.3 50 4.7 273 260 95.2 13 4.8
1980 74,335 67,995 91.5 6,340 8.5 981 916 93.4 65 6.6 423 398 94.1 25 5.9
1981 79,585 71,838 90.3 7,747 9.7 1,040 958 92.1 82 7.9 503 471 93.6 32 6.4
1982 83,720 74,943 89.5 8,777 10.5 980 896 91.4 84 8.6 670 638 95.2 32 4.8
1983 91,146 81,337 89.2 9,809 10.8 1,108 1,019 92.0 89 8.0 631 596 94.5 35 5.5
1984 92,739 82,440 88.9 10,299 11.1 1,203 1,119 93.0 84 7.0 589 554 94.1 35 5.9
1985 96,018 84,935 88.5 11,083 11.5 1,356 1,255 92.6 101 7.4 615 564 91.7 51 8.3
1986 101,905 89,532 87.9 12,373 12.1 1,405 1,273 90.6 132 9.4 521 476 91.4 45 8.6
1987 103,983 91,012 87.5 12,971 12.5 1,446 1,297 89.7 149 10.3 443 399 90.1 44 9.9
1988 102,854 89,726 87.2 13,128 12.8 1,690 1,518 89.8 172 10.2 566 515 91.0 51 9.0
1989 104,065 90,457 86.9 13,608 13.1 1,928 1,750 90.8 178 9.2 581 525 90.4 56 9.6
1990 107,658 92,979 86.4 14,679 13.6 1,950 1,744 89.4 206 10.6 609 553 90.8 56 9.2
1991 113,535 97,837 86.2 15,698 13.8 2,262 2,024 89.5 238 10.5 659 600 91.0 59 9.0
1992 118,039 100,819 85.4 17,220 14.6 2,369 2,118 89.4 251 10.6 737 667 90.5 70 9.5
1993 116,872 99,184 84.9 17,688 15.1 2,446 2,164 88.5 282 11.5 805 728 90.4 77 9.6
1994 113,024 94,974 84.0 18,050 16.0 2,606 2,272 87.2 334 12.8 825 734 89.0 91 11.0
1995 107,201 89,188 83.2 18,013 16.8 2,648 2,327 87.9 321 12.1 789 701 88.8 88 11.2
1996 103,224 84,970 82.3 18,254 17.7 2,677 2,362 88.2 315 11.8 731 646 88.4 85 11.6
1997 101,148 82,428 81.5 18,720 18.5 2,971 2,625 88.4 346 11.6 848 733 86.4 115 13.6
1998 100,038 81,050 81.0 18,988 19.0 2,853 2,470 86.6 383 13.4 810 721 89.0 89 11.0
1999 101,691 81,804 80.4 19,887 19.6 3,196 2,727 85.3 469 14.7 940 815 86.7 125 13.3
2000 104,112 83,366 80.1 20,746 19.9 3,313 2,840 85.7 473 14.3 896 783 87.4 113 12.6
2001 109,493 87,236 79.7 22,257 20.3 3,152 2,666 84.6 486 15.4 801 691 86.3 110 13.7
2002 119,668 94,701 79.1 24,967 20.9 3,566 2,963 83.1 603 16.9 903 774 85.7 129 14.3
2003 127,377 99,790 78.3 27,587 21.7 3,810 3,207 84.2 603 15.8 952 816 85.7 136 14.3
2004 123,566 96,294 77.9 27,272 22.1 3,949 3,245 82.2 704 17.8 1,043 924 88.6 119 11.4
2005 120,565 93,670 77.7 26,895 22.3 4,166 3,436 82.5 730 17.5 946 824 87.1 122 12.9
2006 123,041 95,097 77.3 27,944 22.7 4,642 3,819 82.3 823 17.7 1,118 974 87.1 144 12.9
2007olda 130,255 100,281 77.0 29,974 23.0 4,908 4,073 83.0 835 17.0 1,298 1,104 85.1 194 14.9
2007newa 131,676 101,204 76.9 30,472 23.1 4,942 4,099 82.9 843 17.1 1,310 1,116 85.2 194 14.8
2008 137,856 106,319 77.1 31,537 22.9 5,462 4,359 79.8 1,103 20.2 1,419 1,169 82.4 250 17.6
2009 144,677 111,359 77.0 33,318 23.0 6,416 5,031 78.4 1,385 21.6 1,737 1,451 83.5 286 16.5
2010b,c 149,241 114,788 76.9 34,453 23.1 6,969 5,479 78.6 1,490 21.4 2,406 1,971 81.9 435 18.1
2011c 146,501 112,760 77.0 33,741 23.0 6,786 5,287 77.9 1,499 22.1 2,312 1,895 82.0 417 18.0
2012 148,385 113,834 76.7 34,551 23.3 7,103 5,514 77.6 1,589 22.4 2,497 2,023 81.0 474 19.0
2013 153,049 116,651 76.2 36,398 23.8 7,106 5,518 77.7 1,588 22.3 2,494 1,970 79.0 524 21.0
2014oldd 162,013 123,056 76.0 38,957 24.0 7,292 5,650 77.5 1,642 22.5 2,744 2,148 78.3 596 21.7
2014newd 164,488 124,798 75.9 39,690 24.1 7,307 5,665 77.5 1,642 22.5 2,745 2,149 78.3 596 21.7
2015 169,354 128,845 76.1 40,509 23.9 7,656 5,959 77.8 1,697 22.2 2,929 2,297 78.4 632 21.6
2016 168,443 127,088 75.4 41,355 24.6 7,796 6,074 77.9 1,722 22.1 3,155 2,438 77.3 717 22.7
2017olde 166,819 125,105 75.0 41,714 25.0 7,929 6,157 77.7 1,772 22.3 na na na na na
2017newe 165,581 124,749 75.3 40,832 24.7 7,839 6,087 77.7 1,752 22.3 3,274 2,530 77.3 744 22.7
Master's students
2017newe 96,756 73,410 75.9 23,346 24.1 na na na na na na na na na na
Doctoral students
2017newe 68,825 51,339 74.6 17,486 25.4 na na na na na na na na na na
na = not applicable; master's and doctoral students were not reported separately until 2017, and data on postdoctoral appointees (postdocs) and nonfaculty researchers (NFRs) were not collected until 1979. NA = not available; master's-granting institutions were not surveyed in 1978, and the survey of doctorate-granting institutions did not collect data by sex.
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. See appendix A in https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.
b In 2010, the postdoc and NFR section of the survey was expanded and significant effort was made to ensure that appropriate personnel were providing postdoc and NFR data. Thus, it is unclear how much of the increases in 2010 and later years over 2009 and prior years are from growth in postdocs and NFRs and how much are from improved data collection. More information on the changes to the data collection is available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf13334/.
c Postdoc and NFR data from 2010 and 2011 were reimputed following the 2012 data collection; these data supersede those contained in previous reports.
d 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. For more information, see https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2016/nsf16314.
e As part of 2017 GSS redesign, the GSS taxonomy was changed to align with the NCSES Taxonomy of Disciplines (TOD), thus increasing comparability with other NCSES surveys. As a result, some eligible fields were reclassified and a small number of fields became fully or partially ineligible. Comparisons to prior years should use the 2017old estimates and should be limited to broad areas of study—detailed field comparisons are not recommended.
NOTE: Percentages may not add to total because of rounding.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.