Back to Data Tables
Excel icon Download to excel

Table 4-2. Graduate students, postdoctoral appointees, and doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers, by detailed field and sex: 2017

Detailed field Graduate students Postdoctoral appointees Doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers
All graduate students Master's Doctoral
Total number Percent female Total number Percent female Total number Percent female Total number Percent female Total number Percent female
All detailed fields 649,112 45.1 378,587 47.0 270,525 42.4 64,733 40.0 28,180 41.2
Science 415,568 48.4 229,169 49.8 186,399 46.6 38,241 39.2 17,268 40.1
Agricultural sciences 9,347 53.1 5,603 55.3 3,744 49.7 1,024 40.3 496 44.0
Biological and biomedical sciences 85,217 56.8 33,926 61.7 51,291 53.6 21,781 44.2 8,203 46.9
Biochemistry 5,341 49.5 791 52.5 4,550 49.0 1,933 37.2 757 44.4
Biology 15,811 57.9 8,791 60.8 7,020 54.1 2,167 41.9 847 44.0
Biomedical sciences 7,710 57.6 4,298 58.9 3,412 56.0 1,870 45.7 533 43.5
Biophysics 861 33.0 18 50.0 843 32.6 144 31.9 46 39.1
Biostatistics and bioinformatics 5,219 48.9 2,540 55.4 2,679 42.7 695 37.8 357 54.3
Biotechnology 1,984 59.9 1,893 59.8 91 61.5 103 36.9 91 34.1
Botany and plant biology 1,690 50.5 378 52.1 1,312 50.1 586 41.6 228 44.3
Cell, cellular biology, and anatomical sciences 5,712 55.1 926 57.2 4,786 54.7 1,859 45.3 600 44.2
Ecology and population biology 3,487 56.8 921 61.8 2,566 55.0 468 46.2 242 42.6
Epidemiology 4,217 70.5 2,577 71.1 1,640 69.5 244 63.5 107 58.9
Genetics 2,533 59.9 512 78.1 2,021 55.3 1,529 44.1 510 45.7
Microbiological sciences and immunology 5,011 56.5 1,037 62.2 3,974 55.0 2,065 47.7 863 50.9
Molecular biology 1,412 53.2 277 57.4 1,135 52.2 477 43.6 133 36.8
Neurobiology and neuroscience 5,189 53.1 318 59.1 4,871 52.7 2,137 45.8 852 47.9
Nutrition science 3,132 83.3 2,144 86.8 988 75.8 177 54.8 113 70.8
Pathology and experimental pathology 1,033 59.8 122 77.0 911 57.5 1,106 46.0 444 52.7
Pharmacology and toxicology 3,125 57.3 881 61.9 2,244 55.5 1,140 42.0 436 44.3
Physiology 4,856 52.5 2,229 53.8 2,627 51.3 1,851 46.4 616 49.7
Zoology and animal biology 1,954 53.5 759 57.7 1,195 50.9 394 44.9 127 42.5
Biological and biomedical sciences nec 4,940 55.2 2,514 57.0 2,426 53.4 836 43.8 301 44.2
Computer and information sciences 89,909 30.1 75,618 31.0 14,291 25.0 854 21.2 476 23.5
Computer science 30,251 26.5 22,786 27.9 7,465 22.3 468 19.7 279 21.5
Computer and information sciences, general 35,646 29.1 30,217 29.8 5,429 24.9 256 19.5 134 29.1
Computer and information sciences nec 24,012 36.0 22,615 35.8 1,397 40.0 130 30.0 63 20.6
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 12,545 45.0 6,006 45.1 6,539 44.9 2,089 37.6 1,794 31.0
Atmospheric sciences and meteorology 1,348 38.5 464 39.9 884 37.8 313 26.2 402 27.6
Geological and earth sciences 8,255 41.4 4,107 39.9 4,148 42.8 1,046 35.5 603 30.0
Ocean and marine sciences 2,695 58.7 1,275 62.7 1,420 55.1 433 46.7 399 41.4
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 247 52.6 160 54.4 87 49.4 297 43.8 390 25.4
Mathematics and statistics 29,669 37.1 16,568 43.4 13,101 29.0 991 23.2 240 27.5
Mathematics and applied mathematics 20,511 34.4 10,387 42.0 10,124 26.6 860 23.0 195 26.7
Statistics 9,158 43.0 6,181 45.7 2,977 37.4 131 24.4 45 31.1
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 9,854 52.2 6,923 52.6 2,931 51.1 1,131 40.2 806 33.5
Natural resources and conservation 10,879 54.9 7,311 56.6 3,568 51.5 731 41.6 364 36.3
Environmental science and studies 5,136 58.7 3,515 60.3 1,621 55.3 270 42.6 147 44.2
Forestry, natural resources, and conservation 5,743 51.5 3,796 53.1 1,947 48.4 461 41.0 217 30.9
Physical sciences 41,829 33.4 6,368 38.1 35,461 32.5 7,211 22.7 2,871 20.2
Astronomy and astrophysics 1,305 38.2 69 43.5 1,236 37.9 484 29.8 494 20.0
Chemistry 22,820 41.9 3,453 48.7 19,367 40.7 3,435 25.7 931 28.8
Materials sciences 1,375 29.8 448 30.4 927 29.6 300 23.7 82 22.0
Physics 15,687 20.6 2,182 22.5 13,505 20.3 2,645 17.2 1,306 13.6
Physical sciences nec 642 38.2 216 42.1 426 36.2 347 23.9 58 32.8
Psychology 50,033 75.5 29,638 78.7 20,395 70.9 1,082 58.6 494 62.1
Clinical psychology 6,849 77.9 3,098 80.5 3,751 75.8 74 74.3 40 72.5
Counseling and applied psychology 26,238 78.6 19,413 80.4 6,825 73.7 135 63.0 47 66.0
Psychology, general 13,258 70.3 5,905 73.1 7,353 68.0 696 57.6 247 60.7
Research and experimental psychology 3,688 68.0 1,222 74.8 2,466 64.7 177 52.5 160 60.6
Social sciences 76,286 53.9 41,208 56.3 35,078 51.1 1,347 53.7 1,524 54.8
Agricultural economics 1,678 43.7 806 44.7 872 42.8 57 57.9 44 43.2
Anthropology 6,925 66.8 2,363 71.0 4,562 64.6 136 62.5 85 56.5
Criminal justice and safety studies 4,407 60.5 3,869 59.8 538 65.6 4 25.0 5 80.0
Economics (except agricultural) 13,069 36.7 5,238 43.0 7,831 32.5 94 41.5 166 34.3
Geography and cartography 4,552 45.2 2,696 42.1 1,856 49.7 81 32.1 98 32.7
History and philosophy of science 260 52.3 25 40.0 235 53.6 9 22.2 9 55.6
Human development 2,034 85.8 1,349 87.5 685 82.6 123 74.0 160 77.5
International relations and national security studies 7,153 49.3 6,755 49.7 398 41.5 38 50.0 45 33.3
Linguistics 2,883 60.8 1,237 66.3 1,646 56.7 33 48.5 46 71.7
Political science and government 8,588 42.2 2,979 44.1 5,609 41.2 142 43.0 72 48.6
Public policy analysis 6,952 58.2 4,718 59.2 2,234 56.3 162 51.2 292 59.2
Sociology 7,969 63.9 2,629 68.1 5,340 61.8 141 54.6 143 62.2
Social sciences nec 9,816 64.1 6,544 63.9 3,272 64.3 327 58.1 359 56.0
Engineering 165,581 24.7 96,756 24.1 68,825 25.4 7,839 22.3 3,274 22.7
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 5,708 15.5 3,322 16.1 2,386 14.7 196 12.8 102 9.8
Agricultural engineering 1,186 40.6 505 43.8 681 38.3 111 30.6 52 25.0
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 10,882 42.0 4,037 43.2 6,845 41.2 1,398 33.8 415 30.6
Biological and biosystems engineering 234 35.9 71 36.6 163 35.6 78 28.2 36 25.0
Chemical engineering 10,166 32.1 3,292 33.3 6,874 31.6 1,197 23.2 281 28.5
Civil engineering 21,132 30.8 13,506 30.3 7,626 31.6 804 25.7 422 25.6
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 47,752 21.7 29,816 23.8 17,936 18.1 1,170 14.0 557 14.9
Engineering mechanics, physics, and science 2,136 23.6 679 22.7 1,457 24.0 316 20.6 200 25.5
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 15,905 26.6 12,272 25.7 3,633 29.6 127 26.8 119 18.5
Mechanical engineering 27,428 15.4 16,279 13.9 11,149 17.6 1,089 16.6 458 15.3
Metallurgical and materials engineering 6,541 31.3 2,115 31.5 4,426 31.2 550 17.1 181 21.0
Mining engineering 541 21.8 312 24.7 229 17.9 15 20.0 52 28.8
Nanotechnology 139 25.9 44 29.5 95 24.2 85 23.5 33 24.2
Nuclear engineering 1,442 17.1 444 12.8 998 18.9 94 13.8 22 18.2
Petroleum engineering 1,578 19.3 916 18.6 662 20.2 65 15.4 59 42.4
Engineering nec 12,811 23.3 9,146 21.5 3,665 27.9 544 23.9 285 28.4
Health 67,963 74.8 52,662 76.7 15,301 68.3 18,653 49.0 7,638 51.5
Clinical medicinea 29,693 73.1 25,283 73.6 4,410 69.8 16,100 48.7 6,448 51.3
Anesthesiology ne ne ne ne ne ne 422 44.8 147 46.3
Cardiology ne ne ne ne ne ne 824 39.8 248 47.2
Endocrinology ne ne ne ne ne ne 331 52.9 98 53.1
Gastroenterology ne ne ne ne ne ne 273 45.1 96 43.8
Hematology ne ne ne ne ne ne 338 47.6 111 51.4
Neurology ne ne ne ne ne ne 1,202 51.8 493 53.5
Obstetrics and gynecology ne ne ne ne ne ne 294 59.5 117 74.4
Oncology and cancer research ne ne ne ne ne ne 1,974 46.8 620 41.9
Ophthalmology ne ne ne ne ne ne 513 42.7 377 45.1
Otorhinolaryngology ne ne ne ne ne ne 265 45.3 116 62.1
Pediatrics ne ne ne ne ne ne 1,270 60.8 657 55.1
Psychiatry ne ne ne ne ne ne 949 62.7 236 63.6
Public health 28,657 73.7 24,570 74.2 4,087 71.1 767 58.9 611 67.4
Pulmonary disease ne ne ne ne ne ne 290 48.6 144 49.3
Radiological sciences ne ne ne ne ne ne 996 36.9 395 35.9
Surgery ne ne ne ne ne ne 1,247 40.1 505 40.6
Clinical medicine nec 1,036 54.2 713 54.6 323 53.3 4,145 47.6 1,477 52.6
Other health 38,270 76.1 27,379 79.5 10,891 67.7 2,553 50.7 1,190 52.6
Communication disorders sciences 16,053 94.2 14,748 95.1 1,305 84.0 79 68.4 66 57.6
Dental sciences 1,698 50.2 1,450 49.1 248 56.5 282 51.4 78 38.5
Nursing science 5,148 87.7 1,550 87.7 3,598 87.7 98 80.6 101 82.2
Pharmaceutical sciences 3,644 52.2 1,078 62.2 2,566 48.0 978 41.1 368 40.8
Veterinary biomedical and clinical sciences 1,035 65.3 458 71.6 577 60.3 602 55.5 260 56.5
Other health nec 10,692 56.9 8,095 57.7 2,597 54.1 514 54.5 317 56.2
ne = not eligible.
nec = not elsewhere classified.
a Clinical medicine includes graduate students in public health and clinical medicine nec. Clinical medicine includes postdoctoral appointees and nonfaculty researchers in anesthesiology, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, oncology and cancer research, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, pediatrics, psychiatry, public health, pulmonary disease, radiology, surgery, and clinical medicine nec.
NOTES: "Field" refers to the field of the unit that reports postdoctoral appointees and doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers to the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. 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, 2017.