Back to Data Tables
Excel icon Download to excel

Table 9. Master's degrees awarded to women, by field of degree and citizenship status of recipients: 2005–15

Field 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
All fields 344,135 359,947 370,577 382,740 401,995 421,358 443,154 455,736 453,745 455,240 455,697
Science and engineering 79,717 83,487 86,230 90,360 96,862 102,177 110,542 120,043 127,124 133,877 140,575
Science 72,105 76,008 79,251 82,723 88,623 93,775 101,203 110,144 116,827 122,889 128,293
Computer sciences 5,309 4,618 4,276 4,596 4,869 4,963 5,508 5,843 6,263 7,088 9,607
Geosciences 796 879 861 815 868 951 940 1,019 1,053 1,122 1,145
Atmospheric sciences 69 71 69 73 91 94 86 93 91 111 90
Earth sciences 568 603 583 546 548 593 607 675 715 700 752
Ocean sciences 159 205 209 196 229 264 247 251 247 311 303
Life sciences 39,096 42,298 45,064 47,660 51,147 54,958 60,207 66,628 71,653 76,355 80,678
Agricultural sciences 2,404 2,313 2,419 2,422 2,509 2,627 2,948 3,335 3,357 3,480 3,436
Biological sciences 4,801 4,988 5,133 5,501 5,638 6,021 6,287 6,934 7,272 7,612 8,136
Health sciences 31,891 34,997 37,512 39,737 43,000 46,310 50,972 56,359 61,024 65,263 69,106
Mathematical sciences 2,011 2,087 2,098 2,207 2,246 2,376 2,517 2,711 2,927 3,244 3,380
Physical sciences 1,524 1,626 1,563 1,565 1,514 1,621 1,657 1,689 1,698 1,716 1,678
Astronomy 62 66 59 62 57 55 70 50 76 66 62
Chemistry 939 1,024 1,005 1,035 997 1,055 1,081 1,132 1,130 1,122 1,109
Physics 422 439 417 378 371 410 404 409 401 439 436
Other physical sciences 101 97 82 90 89 101 102 98 91 89 71
Social sciences 23,369 24,500 25,389 25,880 27,979 28,906 30,374 32,254 33,233 33,364 31,805
Anthropology 724 742 819 740 817 815 801 825 789 863 805
Economics 1,207 1,159 1,154 1,210 1,315 1,312 1,529 1,553 1,589 1,666 1,591
Political science 985 973 967 994 995 1,041 1,086 1,109 975 971 879
Psychology 12,918 13,637 14,679 14,916 16,362 16,646 17,644 19,076 19,852 20,005 18,926
Sociology 1,023 1,094 1,073 1,052 1,053 962 1,040 1,131 1,086 1,099 974
Other social sciences 6,512 6,895 6,697 6,968 7,437 8,130 8,274 8,560 8,942 8,760 8,630
Engineering 7,612 7,479 6,979 7,637 8,239 8,402 9,339 9,899 10,297 10,988 12,282
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 164 155 170 172 169 157 196 191 190 207 178
Bioengineering 443 475 480 531 539 554 604 732 797 760 947
Chemical engineering 373 325 322 313 343 351 406 507 517 499 530
Civil engineering 1,001 1,057 925 967 1,036 1,090 1,264 1,422 1,522 1,516 1,522
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 1,799 1,621 1,476 1,725 1,725 1,706 1,795 1,856 1,842 2,006 2,719
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 919 918 877 925 1,066 1,180 1,345 1,439 1,400 1,507 1,561
Materials science engineering 184 179 195 203 227 215 229 311 325 337 336
Mechanical engineering 584 622 574 654 692 685 770 740 820 937 1,062
Other engineering 2,145 2,127 1,960 2,147 2,442 2,464 2,730 2,701 2,884 3,219 3,427
Non-science and engineering 264,418 276,460 284,347 292,380 305,133 319,181 332,612 335,693 326,621 321,363 315,122
Education 133,474 139,262 142,194 141,268 144,125 146,342 148,952 142,895 132,658 124,564 118,887
Humanities 21,694 22,447 22,525 23,707 24,596 26,441 26,922 28,184 27,850 27,234 26,540
Technologies 5,030 5,655 5,915 6,737 7,277 9,423 9,785 11,001 12,291 13,479 14,299
Professional/other/unknown 104,220 109,096 113,713 120,668 129,135 136,975 146,953 153,613 153,822 156,086 155,396
U.S. citizens and permanent residents, all fieldsa 313,634 329,470 341,141 351,519 368,225 386,376 406,035 416,202 411,558 407,741 403,093
Science and engineering 67,690 71,788 74,988 78,493 83,678 88,472 95,742 104,302 110,115 115,143 118,068
Science 63,396 67,435 70,739 74,002 79,015 83,841 90,480 98,775 104,443 109,457 112,283
Computer sciences 3,062 2,762 2,510 2,534 2,446 2,653 2,928 3,065 3,303 3,668 4,031
Geosciences 687 771 770 711 771 835 823 887 905 978 997
Atmospheric sciences 51 56 57 62 80 72 77 73 72 92 64
Earth sciences 498 530 526 474 482 522 521 582 608 599 650
Ocean sciences 138 185 187 175 209 241 225 232 225 287 283
Life sciences 36,577 39,422 42,210 44,885 48,156 51,663 56,658 62,857 67,680 72,178 76,306
Agricultural sciences 2,046 2,001 2,108 2,075 2,145 2,239 2,561 2,896 2,882 2,951 2,893
Biological sciences 4,069 4,193 4,334 4,621 4,638 4,991 5,189 5,788 6,084 6,355 6,682
Health sciences 30,462 33,228 35,768 38,189 41,373 44,433 48,908 54,173 58,714 62,872 66,731
Mathematical sciences 1,211 1,344 1,337 1,387 1,318 1,337 1,426 1,509 1,513 1,570 1,501
Physical sciences 1,054 1,083 1,044 1,081 1,018 1,097 1,108 1,098 1,132 1,108 1,052
Astronomy 55 58 46 50 45 44 53 39 67 48 47
Chemistry 639 664 666 726 666 707 723 717 733 726 704
Physics 268 274 257 219 224 252 243 258 255 263 242
Other physical sciences 92 87 75 86 83 94 89 84 77 71 59
Social sciences 20,805 22,053 22,868 23,404 25,306 26,256 27,537 29,359 29,910 29,955 28,396
Anthropology 681 687 746 693 745 750 756 773 729 804 745
Economics 561 546 566 562 602 661 702 765 637 649 638
Political science 797 830 818 843 850 911 951 948 830 830 723
Psychology 12,418 13,148 14,142 14,397 15,870 16,128 17,096 18,466 19,156 19,357 18,300
Sociology 911 990 974 972 947 866 944 1,031 964 997 871
Other social sciences 5,437 5,852 5,622 5,937 6,292 6,940 7,088 7,376 7,594 7,318 7,119
Engineering 4,294 4,353 4,249 4,491 4,663 4,631 5,262 5,527 5,672 5,686 5,785
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 119 115 132 144 131 121 138 144 142 165 134
Bioengineering 311 322 346 383 356 367 413 517 507 478 629
Chemical engineering 208 194 192 169 193 178 197 223 226 203 248
Civil engineering 679 726 673 696 722 748 900 1,002 1,054 1,012 944
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 549 557 548 551 469 474 525 489 459 490 489
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 614 597 587 551 630 668 769 821 804 805 812
Materials science engineering 117 112 99 120 118 117 122 166 170 161 155
Mechanical engineering 381 410 396 440 449 447 503 467 536 563 630
Other engineering 1,316 1,320 1,276 1,437 1,595 1,511 1,695 1,698 1,774 1,809 1,744
Non-science and engineering 245,944 257,682 266,153 273,026 284,547 297,904 310,293 311,900 301,443 292,598 285,025
Education 129,664 135,226 138,422 137,238 140,091 142,508 145,166 139,302 129,430 121,006 115,277
Humanities 19,209 20,016 20,190 21,270 22,019 23,687 24,187 25,243 24,860 23,968 22,964
Technologies 4,803 5,383 5,664 6,381 6,950 9,003 9,444 10,599 11,893 13,019 13,737
Professional/other/unknown 92,268 97,057 101,877 108,137 115,487 122,706 131,496 136,756 135,260 134,605 133,047
Temporary visa holders, all fields 30,501 30,477 29,436 31,221 33,770 34,982 37,119 39,534 42,187 47,499 52,604
Science and engineering 12,027 11,699 11,242 11,867 13,184 13,705 14,800 15,741 17,009 18,734 22,507
Science 8,709 8,573 8,512 8,721 9,608 9,934 10,723 11,369 12,384 13,432 16,010
Computer sciences 2,247 1,856 1,766 2,062 2,423 2,310 2,580 2,778 2,960 3,420 5,576
Geosciences 109 108 91 104 97 116 117 132 148 144 148
Atmospheric sciences 18 15 12 11 11 22 9 20 19 19 26
Earth sciences 70 73 57 72 66 71 86 93 107 101 102
Ocean sciences 21 20 22 21 20 23 22 19 22 24 20
Life sciences 2,519 2,876 2,854 2,775 2,991 3,295 3,549 3,771 3,973 4,177 4,372
Agricultural sciences 358 312 311 347 364 388 387 439 475 529 543
Biological sciences 732 795 799 880 1,000 1,030 1,098 1,146 1,188 1,257 1,454
Health sciences 1,429 1,769 1,744 1,548 1,627 1,877 2,064 2,186 2,310 2,391 2,375
Mathematical sciences 800 743 761 820 928 1,039 1,091 1,202 1,414 1,674 1,879
Physical sciences 470 543 519 484 496 524 549 591 566 608 626
Astronomy 7 8 13 12 12 11 17 11 9 18 15
Chemistry 300 360 339 309 331 348 358 415 397 396 405
Physics 154 165 160 159 147 158 161 151 146 176 194
Other physical sciences 9 10 7 4 6 7 13 14 14 18 12
Social sciences 2,564 2,447 2,521 2,476 2,673 2,650 2,837 2,895 3,323 3,409 3,409
Anthropology 43 55 73 47 72 65 45 52 60 59 60
Economics 646 613 588 648 713 651 827 788 952 1,017 953
Political science 188 143 149 151 145 130 135 161 145 141 156
Psychology 500 489 537 519 492 518 548 610 696 648 626
Sociology 112 104 99 80 106 96 96 100 122 102 103
Other social sciences 1,075 1,043 1,075 1,031 1,145 1,190 1,186 1,184 1,348 1,442 1,511
Engineering 3,318 3,126 2,730 3,146 3,576 3,771 4,077 4,372 4,625 5,302 6,497
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 45 40 38 28 38 36 58 47 48 42 44
Bioengineering 132 153 134 148 183 187 191 215 290 282 318
Chemical engineering 165 131 130 144 150 173 209 284 291 296 282
Civil engineering 322 331 252 271 314 342 364 420 468 504 578
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 1,250 1,064 928 1,174 1,256 1,232 1,270 1,367 1,383 1,516 2,230
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 305 321 290 374 436 512 576 618 596 702 749
Materials science engineering 67 67 96 83 109 98 107 145 155 176 181
Mechanical engineering 203 212 178 214 243 238 267 273 284 374 432
Other engineering 829 807 684 710 847 953 1,035 1,003 1,110 1,410 1,683
Non-science and engineering 18,474 18,778 18,194 19,354 20,586 21,277 22,319 23,793 25,178 28,765 30,097
Education 3,810 4,036 3,772 4,030 4,034 3,834 3,786 3,593 3,228 3,558 3,610
Humanities 2,485 2,431 2,335 2,437 2,577 2,754 2,735 2,941 2,990 3,266 3,576
Technologies 227 272 251 356 327 420 341 402 398 460 562
Professional/other/unknown 11,952 12,039 11,836 12,531 13,648 14,269 15,457 16,857 18,562 21,481 22,349
a These categories include U.S. citizens and foreign citizens on permanent visas (i.e., resident aliens who have been admitted for permanent residency).
NOTE: See table A-1 for specific fields included in each category.
SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, special tabulations (2019) of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Completions Survey, Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.