Women in Science Statistics




      Below are a number of statistics sources which we hope will be of use to you in discussion of women in science. Much of the data comes from the National Science Foundation, with additional information from a variety of sources. Data range from several issues regarding women in science and engineering, including education, the workplace, and international statistics. In addition to tables and graphs, we have included fact sheets and helpful links at the bottom of the page.
      AWIS recognizes the power of data in emphasizing the importance of issues such as the under-representation of women in science and engineering. These data show the success women have had in increasing the amount of degrees earned by women in science and engineering. These data also show how this success has not been fully translated to increased representation in the S&E workforce, although substantial increases have been made.
      AWIS also recognizes the importance of detailed data in exposing true trends. When grouping all S&E disciplines together, we can unintentionally look over the advances women have made in the life sciences and the social sciences, sometimes surpassing men in representation in these disciplines. Such a grouping also would ignore the continuing lag of women's representation in engineering and the physical sciences.
      Please visit our Changing Representation Fact Sheet for a general overview of the changing representation of women in science and engineering over the years that shows some of these interesting and contrasting changes across the different scientific disciplines.
      We welcome suggestions and opinions regarding this page. Please send comments to webadmin@awis.org

Tables

Education

  • High School Graduates that completed selected math and science courses in high school: 1998 (gif)
  • Women as a percentage of science and engineering bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degree recipients, by major field group, in 1966 and 1996 (jpg) (ppt)

Undergraduate

  • Earned bachelor's degrees, by field and sex: 1975-1998 (pdf) (excel)
  • Percentages of freshman intending to major in S&E, by race/ethnicity, field, and sex: 1975-2000 (pdf) (excel)
  • Bachelor's degrees earned by underrepresented minorities in Science and Engineering, by field: 1998-1999 (gif)
  • Bachelor's degree earned by foreign students in Science and Engineering fields, UK (1999) & US (1998) (gif)
  • Ratio of total bachelor's degrees and Science and Engineering bachelor's degrees to the 24-year-old population, by sex and race: 1980 and 1998 (gif)

Graduate

  • Graduate enrollment in S&E, by field and sex: 1975-1999 (pdf) (excel)
  • Earned master's degrees, by field and sex: 1977-1998 (pdf) (excel)
  • Females enrolled in US graduate Science and Engineering programs among racial/ethnic groups and foreign students, by discipline (gif)

Doctorate

  • Earned doctoral degrees, by field and sex: 1970-1999 (pdf) (excel)
  • Doctorates awarded to women, by field of study and year of doctorate: 1992-2001 (pdf) (excel)
  • PhDs in Physics: 1983-1999 (html) (pdf)
  • PhDs in Chemical Engineering: 1983-1999 (html) (pdf)
  • Postgraduation plans of doctorate recipients, by sex and major field: 2001 (pdf) (excel)
  • Primary mechanisms of support for S&E Ph.D recipients, by citizenship, sex, and race/ethnicity: 1999 (pdf) (excel)
  • International S&E doctoral degrees, by sex and field: 1999 (pdf) (excel)

Employment

Total Workforce

  • Individuals in S&E Occupations, by highest degree attained, occupation, sex, race/ethnicity, and employment status: 1999 (pdf) (excel)
  • Employed doctoral scientists and engineers, by sector of employment, broad field of doctorate, and sex: 2001 (pdf) (excel)
  • Doctoral scientists and engineers, by broad field of doctorate, employment status, and sex: 2001 (pdf) (excel)
  • Distribution of individuals in Science and Engineering occupations, by level of highest degree (gif)
  • Unemployment rates for individuals in Science and Engineering occupations, by sex and race/ethnicity (gif)

Academia

  • Employed doctoral scientists and engineers in universities and 4-year colleges, by broad field of doctorate, sex, faculty rank, and years since doctorate: 2001 (pdf) (excel)
  • Employed doctoral scientists and engineers in universities and 4-year colleges, by broad field of doctorate, sex, tenure status, and years since doctorate: 2001 (pdf) (excel)
  • Utilization of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Physical Sciences PhD Recipients in Faculties of Those "Top 50" Departments: 1983-1999, FY 2001, FY 2002 (html) (pdf)
  • Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty at the "Top 50" Physics Departments: FY 2002 (html) (pdf)
  • Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty at the "Top 50" Chemical Engineering Departments by Race/Ethnicity and by Rank: FY 2002 (html) (pdf)

Salary

  • Median annual salaries of full time employed doctoral scientists and engineers, by sector of employment, broad field of doctorate, and sex: 2001 (pdf) (excel)
  • Median annual salaries of full time employed doctoral scientists and engineers in universities and 4-year colleges, by broad field of doctorate, sex, and faculty rank: 2001 (pdf) (excel)
  • Median annual salaries of full time employed doctoral scientists and engineers, by field of doctorate, race/ethnicity, and sex: 2001 (pdf) (excel)
  • Median annual salaries of full time employed doctoral scientists and engineers, by occupation, race/ethnicity, and sex: 2001 (pdf) (excel)
  • Difference between male and female salaries by rank and type of institution for selected years, expressed as a percent of male salaries: 1975, 1988, 1999 (html)
  • Median annual salaries of individuals employed in Science and Engineering occupations, by sex and race/ethnicity: 1993-1999 odd years (gif)
  • Salary differentials controlling for individual characteristics: 1999 (gif)

Graphs

Education

High School

  • Percentage of high school graduates who took selected mathematics and science courses, by sex: 1982 and 1994 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Girls as a percentage of examinees of total and selected individual AP exams: 2000 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Interest in math and science learning: Percentage of 8th-, 10th- and 12th-graders (1988 cohort in 1988, 1990, and 1992) who expressed positive attitudes relating to math and science, by gender (jpg) (ppt)
  • Percentage of 1998 high school graduates who took selected math and science courses in high school by sex (gif)
  • Performance of students in last year of high school: 1994-95 (gif)
  • Trends in difference between male and female average scale scores, by age (gif)

Undergraduate

  • Bachelor's degrees in S&E earned by selected groups (gif)
  • Women as a percentage of recipients of science and engineering bachelor's degrees in 1997 and 1998, primary education and employment status, by field of degree: April 1999 (jpg) (ppt)

Graduate

  • Women as a percentage of science and engineering graduate students, by field: 1980 and 1997 (gif) (ppt)
  • Science and engineering graduate students, by sex: 1980-1997 (gif)
  • Women as a percentage of recipients of science and engineering master's degrees in 1997 and 1998, primary education and employment status, by field of degree: April 1999 (jpg) (ppt)

Doctorate

  • Doctoral degrees earned by women, by field: 1970-1999 (gif)
  • Women as a percentage of science and engineering postdoctoral fellows and of doctorate recipients, by field: 1997 (gif) (ppt)
  • Science and engineering Ph.D. recipients, by gender: 1992 and 2001 (ppt)
  • Doctoral science and engineering degrees awarded, by gender: 1966-1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Percent of female doctorate recipients by broad field: 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Age distribution at doctorate by broad field of study, 1999 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Time to degree and registered time to degree for doctorate by broad field of study, 1999 (jpg) (ppt)
  • S&E doctorates earned by US citizens and non-citizens 1980-99 (gif)

Combined Education Levels

  • Percentage of Population, College-Age Population, S&E Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded, S&E Masters Degrees Awarded, S&E Ph.D. Degrees Awarded, S&E Workforce, by sex and race: 1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Percentage of Population, College-Age Population, S&E Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded, S&E Masters Degrees Awarded, S&E Ph.D. Degrees Awarded, S&E Workforce, by sex: 1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Percentage of 25- to 29-year-olds who have completed selected levels of education, by sex: March 1971 and 1996 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Women as a percentage of science and engineering degrees, by degree type: 1966-1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • S&E degrees earned by underrepresented minorities within each field, by level (gif)
  • Degrees awarded in science and engineering (S&E) fields and in non-S&E fields, by sex, 1966-1996:

          Bachelor’s (gif) (ppt)
          Master’s (gif) (ppt)
          Doctoral (gif) (ppt)

Employment

Total Workforce

  • Proportion of women in the science and engineering workforce by broad occupation: 1993 & 1999 (gif)
  • Women as a percentage of employed U.S. science and engineering doctorates, by occupation and years since degree: 1997 (jpg) ppt)
  • Women as a percentage of employed scientists and engineers by employment sector: 1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Doctoral scientists and engineers employed outside doctorate field, by primary reason and gender: 1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Scientists and engineers who are unemployed or out of the labor force, by reason for not working and sex: 1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Part-time employed scientists and engineers, by reason for working part time and sex: 1997 (jpg) (ppt)

Academia

  • Academic rank of full-time employed ranked science and engineering faculty in 4 year colleges and universities, by sex: 1995 (gif) (ppt)
  • Academic employment of doctoral scientists and engineers: 1973-1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Women as a percentage of doctoral scientists and engineers employed in universities and 4-year colleges, by broad field of doctorate and academic rank: 1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Women as a percentage of employed doctoral scientists and engineers in universities and 4-year colleges, by broad field of doctorate and academic rank: 1999 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Women as a percentage of science and engineering Ph.D. Faculty employed full time in academic institutions, by Carnegie classification of academic institution: 1995 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Percentage of faculty positions at medical schools held by women: 1990 & 1998 (ppt)
  • Distribution of U.S. medical school faculty by gender and rank, 1999 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Percent women at each stage of career in science departments at MIT in the period 1985-1994 (ppt)

Business and Industry

  • Median number of direct and indirect subordinates for supervisory and managerial scientists and engineers employed in business or industry, by age and sex: 1997 (jpg) (ppt)

Work and Family

  • Percentage of dual-career married couples' adult life employed, by sex and career priority: 1998 (jpg) (ppt)
  • In dual-earner couples, more men than women place a higher priority on their career over their spouses' career (jpg) (ppt)
  • In dual-earner households, women spend more time on household chores than men across all age-cohorts (jpg) (ppt)
  • Employment status of parents in married couple families, by age of youngest child: 1999 (jpg) (ppt)

Salary

  • Mean annual salaries of employed scientists and engineers, by broad occupation and sex: 1999 (gif)
  • Median annual salaries of full-time employed doctoral scientists and engineers, by employment sector and gender: 2001 (ppt)
  • Median salary of scientists employed full time in business or industry, by sex and age: 1997 (gif) (ppt)
  • Median salary of doctoral scientists employed full time in 4-year colleges or universities, by sex and age: 1997 (gif) (ppt)
  • Median salary for full-time employed 1997 and 1998 science and engineering bachelor's degree graduates, by gender: April 1999 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Median salary for full-time employed 1997 and 1998 science and engineering master's degree graduates, by gender: April 1999 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Median annual salaries of female U.S. science and engineering doctorates as a percentage of male salaries, by occupation and years since degree: 1997 (jpg) (ppt)

Society

  • Representation of Groups in the US population (1995), the incidence of their portrayal on prime time television, and their representation as scientists from samples of prime time television: 1994-98 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Public attentiveness to scientific and technological issues, by sex: 1999 (jpg) (ppt)

International

  • Women and men in science in six European Union Member States: 1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Women and men in academia in Germany, 1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Individual grants awarded to women by the DFG in Germany: by year and discipline: 1988, 1993, 1998 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Percentages of women in science, engineering, and technology in UK universities by field and level: 1996-1997 (jpg) (ppt)
  • Percentages of European women among tenured mathematicians at the university level: 1996 (jpg)

Fact Sheets

Education

Employment

Society

Helpful Links

This site was:
  • Compiled by Megan Pratt, Mary Blair, and Monisha Brown
  • and updated by Mary Blair