Back to Data Tables
Excel icon Download to excel

Table 1-2d. Sex of graduate students, postdoctoral appointees, and doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers in health: 1977–2018

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 33,685 11,149 33.1 22,536 66.9 na na na na na na na na na na
1978 35,660 NA NA NA NA na na na na na na na na na na
1979 38,535 11,073 28.7 27,462 71.3 4,515 3,699 81.9 816 18.1 499 368 73.7 131 26.3
1980 41,478 11,749 28.3 29,729 71.7 4,376 3,513 80.3 863 19.7 653 511 78.3 142 21.7
1981 43,141 11,414 26.5 31,727 73.5 4,863 3,737 76.8 1,126 23.2 611 428 70.0 183 30.0
1982 43,425 11,001 25.3 32,424 74.7 4,685 3,558 75.9 1,127 24.1 547 368 67.3 179 32.7
1983 43,466 10,465 24.1 33,001 75.9 5,042 3,709 73.6 1,333 26.4 917 660 72.0 257 28.0
1984 45,028 10,541 23.4 34,487 76.6 5,353 3,929 73.4 1,424 26.6 1,011 688 68.1 323 31.9
1985 46,030 10,846 23.6 35,184 76.4 5,455 3,994 73.2 1,461 26.8 959 625 65.2 334 34.8
1986 47,538 11,126 23.4 36,412 76.6 5,804 4,180 72.0 1,624 28.0 969 654 67.5 315 32.5
1987 48,258 11,869 24.6 36,389 75.4 6,066 4,356 71.8 1,710 28.2 904 576 63.7 328 36.3
1988 49,360 11,465 23.2 37,895 76.8 6,409 4,521 70.5 1,888 29.5 955 605 63.4 350 36.6
1989 51,836 11,955 23.1 39,881 76.9 7,026 4,965 70.7 2,061 29.3 857 544 63.5 313 36.5
1990 55,072 12,353 22.4 42,719 77.6 7,762 5,402 69.6 2,360 30.4 901 522 57.9 379 42.1
1991 58,620 13,135 22.4 45,485 77.6 8,008 5,500 68.7 2,508 31.3 947 564 59.6 383 40.4
1992 63,005 13,917 22.1 49,088 77.9 8,864 5,996 67.6 2,868 32.4 1,085 642 59.2 443 40.8
1993 68,581 15,291 22.3 53,290 77.7 9,657 6,493 67.2 3,164 32.8 1,193 718 60.2 475 39.8
1994 73,257 16,324 22.3 56,933 77.7 10,590 6,981 65.9 3,609 34.1 1,228 731 59.5 497 40.5
1995 77,174 17,049 22.1 60,125 77.9 9,766 6,362 65.1 3,404 34.9 1,350 839 62.1 511 37.9
1996 78,898 18,150 23.0 60,748 77.0 10,538 6,894 65.4 3,644 34.6 1,447 861 59.5 586 40.5
1997 79,578 18,878 23.7 60,700 76.3 11,217 7,136 63.6 4,081 36.4 1,466 849 57.9 617 42.1
1998 80,771 19,590 24.3 61,181 75.7 12,210 7,699 63.1 4,511 36.9 1,793 1,082 60.3 711 39.7
1999 82,074 19,889 24.2 62,185 75.8 11,820 7,559 64.0 4,261 36.0 1,872 1,117 59.7 755 40.3
2000 79,775 19,052 23.9 60,723 76.1 12,891 8,310 64.5 4,581 35.5 2,052 1,263 61.5 789 38.5
2001 80,378 19,345 24.1 61,033 75.9 13,115 8,369 63.8 4,746 36.2 2,023 1,200 59.3 823 40.7
2002 85,570 20,842 24.4 64,728 75.6 13,097 8,043 61.4 5,054 38.6 1,984 1,186 59.8 798 40.2
2003 92,476 22,434 24.3 70,042 75.7 13,062 7,810 59.8 5,252 40.2 2,028 1,193 58.8 835 41.2
2004 98,590 22,706 23.0 75,884 77.0 13,175 7,787 59.1 5,388 40.9 2,152 1,248 58.0 904 42.0
2005 103,951 23,324 22.4 80,627 77.6 14,099 8,288 58.8 5,811 41.2 2,512 1,439 57.3 1,073 42.7
2006 111,356 24,637 22.1 86,719 77.9 14,456 8,399 58.1 6,057 41.9 3,038 1,756 57.8 1,282 42.2
2007olda 105,448 24,072 22.8 81,376 77.2 14,818 8,448 57.0 6,370 43.0 2,921 1,629 55.8 1,292 44.2
2007newa 103,300 23,083 22.3 80,217 77.7 14,617 8,311 56.9 6,306 43.1 2,916 1,617 55.5 1,299 44.5
2008 102,214 23,032 22.5 79,182 77.5 15,961 8,824 55.3 7,137 44.7 3,659 2,001 54.7 1,658 45.3
2009 85,960 20,589 24.0 65,371 76.0 17,001 9,340 54.9 7,661 45.1 3,624 1,923 53.1 1,701 46.9
2010b,c 76,120 19,430 25.5 56,690 74.5 19,119 10,338 54.1 8,781 45.9 6,188 3,137 50.7 3,051 49.3
2011c 65,879 17,061 25.9 48,818 74.1 18,518 9,853 53.2 8,665 46.8 5,823 2,965 50.9 2,858 49.1
2012 65,825 17,317 26.3 48,508 73.7 19,010 9,990 52.6 9,020 47.4 6,147 3,060 49.8 3,087 50.2
2013 62,710 16,717 26.7 45,993 73.3 18,547 9,727 52.4 8,820 47.6 6,039 3,113 51.5 2,926 48.5
2014oldd 63,577 17,071 26.9 46,506 73.1 18,903 9,832 52.0 9,071 48.0 6,263 3,174 50.7 3,089 49.3
2014newd 64,703 17,451 27.0 47,252 73.0 18,970 9,873 52.0 9,097 48.0 6,287 3,188 50.7 3,099 49.3
2015 67,389 17,873 26.5 49,516 73.5 18,566 9,596 51.7 8,970 48.3 6,696 3,384 50.5 3,312 49.5
2016 64,336 16,655 25.9 47,681 74.1 18,975 9,819 51.7 9,156 48.3 6,652 3,318 49.9 3,334 50.1
2017olde 66,934 16,739 25.0 50,195 75.0 19,143 9,788 51.1 9,355 48.9 na na na na na
2017newe 67,963 17,130 25.2 50,833 74.8 18,653 9,521 51.0 9,132 49.0 7,638 3,704 48.5 3,934 51.5
2018 72,751 17,965 24.7 54,786 75.3 19,305 9,866 51.1 9,439 48.9 7,436 3,693 49.7 3,743 50.3
Master's students
2017newe 52,662 12,282 23.3 40,380 76.7 na na na na na na na na na na
2018 56,820 12,862 22.6 43,958 77.4 na na na na na na na na na na
Doctoral students
2017newe 15,301 4,848 31.7 10,453 68.3 na na na na na na na na na na
2018 15,931 5,103 32.0 10,828 68.0 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. Due to changes in reporting, NFR estimates for 2017old are not available.
NOTE: Percentages may not add to total because of rounding.
SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.