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Table 35. Doctorate recipients’ primary source of financial support, by broad field of study, sex, citizenship status, ethnicity, and race: 2015
(Percent)

Broad field of study and primary source of support Totala Sex Citizenship status U.S. citizens and permanent residents
Male Female U.S. citizen or permanent resident Temporary visa holder Hispanic or Latino Not Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity not reported
American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Black or African American White More than one race Other race or race not reported
All fields (number) 48,461 26,161 22,300 33,077 15,098 2,298 118 2,956 2,109 24,306 879 214 197
Teaching assistantships 20.7 20.8 20.6 19.8 22.5 17.7 16.9 18.0 11.6 21.1 17.9 19.2 17.3
Research assistantships or traineeships 32.1 37.1 26.2 24.2 49.3 17.3 7.6 31.6 13.7 25.1 22.3 17.3 24.9
Fellowships or grants 27.3 26.1 28.7 30.5 20.2 38.4 31.4 36.0 28.8 29.0 37.7 36.4 29.4
Own resources 15.3 11.1 20.2 20.9 3.0 22.8 39.0 11.0 41.1 20.1 18.8 22.9 22.8
Employer 3.1 3.1 3.1 4.3 0.5 3.6 5.1 3.1 4.6 4.5 3.2 3.7 5.1
Other 1.6 1.9 1.2 0.2 4.5 0.3 0.0 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.5
Life sciences (number)b 11,255 4,987 6,268 8,096 3,108 599 19 898 428 5,818 237 52 45
Teaching assistantships 11.8 12.7 11.2 10.8 14.4 8.8 D 9.1 6.5 11.7 D 9.6 8.9
Research assistantships or traineeships 33.5 36.1 31.4 27.5 49.1 19.9 D 29.7 17.1 28.8 26.6 D 40.0
Fellowships or grants 40.3 40.3 40.4 45.1 27.9 53.9 36.8 51.1 42.5 43.2 53.2 55.8 31.1
Own resources 9.7 6.7 12.1 12.6 2.1 13.5 26.3 7.0 30.6 12.2 9.3 9.6 20.0
Employer 2.8 2.2 3.3 3.6 0.6 3.3 D 2.8 3.3 3.9 D D 0.0
Other 1.8 2.1 1.6 0.2 5.9 0.5 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0
Physical sciences and earth sciences (number) 5,301 3,527 1,774 3,320 1,951 171 9 263 95 2,664 87 13 18
Teaching assistantships 23.4 23.6 22.9 20.5 28.1 19.3 0.0 26.2 25.3 19.8 25.3 15.4 22.2
Research assistantships or traineeships 50.0 51.2 47.7 46.7 55.7 31.0 D 49.8 D 48.7 31.0 38.5 16.7
Fellowships or grants 22.5 20.6 26.2 27.8 13.5 44.4 D 20.2 D 26.6 36.8 46.2 38.9
Own resources 2.4 2.5 2.1 3.6 0.4 D D D D 3.7 D 0.0 D
Employer 0.9 1.0 0.6 1.4 0.1 D D D D 1.2 D 0.0 D
Other 0.9 1.1 0.5 0.1 2.3 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0 * 0.0 0.0 0.0
Mathematics and computer sciences (number) 3,352 2,545 807 1,560 1,771 71 0 193 50 1,170 34 17 25
Teaching assistantships 35.9 34.7 39.5 35.3 36.3 31.0 0.0 34.7 24.0 36.8 23.5 41.2 20.0
Research assistantships or traineeships 38.1 40.4 31.1 28.7 46.4 14.1 0.0 36.8 D 28.5 D 17.6 40.0
Fellowships or grants 16.8 15.9 19.6 21.4 12.9 35.2 0.0 14.0 34.0 20.9 35.3 29.4 16.0
Own resources 5.2 5.1 5.5 9.9 1.1 D 0.0 D 22.0 9.0 D 5.9 D
Employer 2.3 2.4 2.0 4.4 0.3 D 0.0 D D 4.9 0.0 0.0 D
Other 1.7 1.5 2.4 0.3 3.0 1.4 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.9 0.0
Psychology and social sciences (number) 7,783 3,279 4,504 6,218 1,510 456 29 417 505 4,545 185 45 36
Teaching assistantships 28.7 30.7 27.2 26.4 38.3 22.1 D 30.9 D 27.7 21.6 33.3 27.8
Research assistantships or traineeships 17.4 16.0 18.5 17.1 18.7 13.6 D D 10.9 18.5 16.2 6.7 11.1
Fellowships or grants 26.3 29.3 24.0 25.1 30.9 30.7 44.8 31.7 23.8 23.8 27.6 24.4 36.1
Own resources 24.7 20.0 28.1 29.1 6.6 32.5 27.6 20.4 46.1 27.4 34.6 35.6 22.2
Employer 1.8 2.2 1.5 2.1 0.5 1.1 0.0 D D 2.4 0.0 0.0 2.8
Other 1.1 1.7 0.7 0.2 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0
Engineering (number) 8,807 6,776 2,031 3,967 4,790 278 D 631 152 2,748 105 D 20
Teaching assistantships 9.3 9.5 8.7 6.1 11.9 5.8 D 7.8 D 5.7 D 7.4 5.0
Research assistantships or traineeships 58.7 60.0 54.4 45.6 69.7 35.3 D 51.0 30.9 46.3 43.8 D 50.0
Fellowships or grants 22.7 20.6 29.8 35.8 11.9 48.6 D 30.1 45.4 34.9 43.8 D 35.0
Own resources 3.8 4.0 3.1 6.1 1.9 4.0 D 6.0 D 6.3 D 3.7 5.0
Employer 3.0 3.4 1.7 6.2 0.4 6.1 0.0 4.9 6.6 6.5 5.7 11.1 5.0
Other 2.5 2.5 2.3 0.3 4.3 0.4 0.0 0.2 0.7 0.3 1.0 0.0 0.0
Education (number) 4,450 1,388 3,062 3,912 512 296 27 187 570 2,708 85 20 19
Teaching assistantships 12.0 12.2 11.9 10.3 25.0 7.8 D 14.4 5.3 11.2 D 15.0 10.5
Research assistantships or traineeships 16.0 14.8 16.6 14.0 30.9 14.9 D 24.6 11.2 14.1 D 5.0 0.0
Fellowships or grants 13.0 11.9 13.5 12.3 18.9 17.6 D 19.8 16.3 10.2 18.8 D 10.5
Own resources 46.8 46.6 46.9 51.2 13.9 52.4 66.7 32.1 58.8 50.9 40.0 60.0 57.9
Employer 10.7 12.2 10.0 11.8 1.6 7.4 D 8.0 8.1 13.4 10.6 D 15.8
Other 1.4 2.2 1.1 0.4 9.8 0.0 0.0 1.1 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.0 5.3
Humanities and arts (number) 4,920 2,417 2,503 4,248 645 343 22 187 136 3,399 109 30 22
Teaching assistantships 41.0 40.3 41.6 41.7 36.4 41.7 40.9 38.5 26.5 43.0 34.9 16.7 27.3
Research assistantships or traineeships 2.0 1.6 2.4 1.9 2.5 1.5 0.0 D D 2.0 D 3.3 0.0
Fellowships or grants 34.4 34.3 34.5 31.9 50.5 32.7 D 45.5 D 30.5 37.6 43.3 36.4
Own resources 20.5 20.9 20.2 22.7 5.9 22.2 D D 30.9 22.7 21.1 36.7 31.8
Employer 1.4 2.0 0.8 1.5 0.5 1.7 0.0 D D 1.5 D 0.0 4.5
Other 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.2 4.2 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.9 0.0 0.0
Other (number)c 2,593 1,242 1,351 1,756 811 84 D 180 173 1,254 37 D 12
Teaching assistantships 24.8 23.1 26.4 22.0 31.1 17.9 0.0 20.0 14.5 23.9 18.9 20.0 16.7
Research assistantships or traineeships 19.2 19.1 19.4 16.4 25.6 8.3 0.0 15.0 2.9 18.9 13.5 30.0 33.3
Fellowships or grants 23.9 26.7 21.5 21.5 28.7 23.8 D 44.4 D 18.2 18.9 D 25.0
Own resources 25.7 22.6 28.5 33.9 7.9 41.7 D 17.2 56.6 32.6 D 30.0 16.7
Employer 4.5 6.3 2.8 5.9 1.4 8.3 D 2.8 D 6.1 D 0.0 8.3
Other 1.9 2.3 1.5 0.2 5.3 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0
* = value < 0.05%; D = suppressed to avoid disclosure of confidential information.
a Includes 286 doctorate recipients with missing citizenship information.
b Includes agricultural sciences and natural resources; biological and biomedical sciences; and health sciences.
c Non-science and engineering fields not shown separately.
NOTES: Includes only doctorate recipients who reported primary source of support. Due to rounding, percentages may not sum to 100.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2015.