Figure D-2. Underrepresented minority share of S&E graduate students, by field: 1996 and 2006
Figure Updated: December 2008
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 1996 and 2006.
Underrepresented minorities (blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaska Natives) increased their share of S&E graduate students somewhat from 1996 to 2006 (from 9% to 11%), but their overall participation remained low.
- Only in psychology and the social sciences did underrepresented minorities' participation exceed 10% in either year. These were also the two fields with the largest increases in the percent of underrepresented minorities.
- Participation rates in other fields ranged from a low of 5.8% in earth, atmospheric & ocean sciences to a high of 9.5% in the biological sciences.
- These graduate study participation rates are well below the 17% share of S&E baccalaureate degrees earned by underrepresented minorities in 2006.
