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Table 62. Statistical profile of doctorate recipients in psychology and social sciences fields, by sex and field of study: 2015

Characteristic All psychology and social sciences fields Psychology Anthropology Economics Political science and government Sociology Other social sciences
All doctorate recipients (number)a 9,095 3,782 493 1,256 859 745 1,960
Sex (%)
Male 41.4 28.0 37.7 65.3 61.4 38.1 45.2
Female 58.6 72.0 62.3 34.7 38.6 61.9 54.8
Unknown * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 73.6 82.2 80.5 43.9 72.3 80.3 72.6
Temporary visa holder 17.9 6.9 14.0 48.3 20.7 13.6 20.9
Unknown 8.5 11.0 5.5 7.7 7.0 6.2 6.5
Marital status (%)
Never married 26.8 26.7 28.4 31.8 25.3 24.4 24.7
Married 44.0 39.2 42.6 45.9 48.2 48.2 49.1
Marriage-like relationship 10.3 10.6 12.0 7.9 9.2 12.6 10.5
Separated, divorced, widowed 3.7 3.7 6.9 1.4 3.4 4.2 4.5
Unknown 15.2 19.8 10.1 13.1 14.0 10.6 11.2
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 48.9 61.8 44.4 55.3 54.9 40.9 21.7
Master's earned (%) 80.3 76.7 84.6 77.5 80.3 88.5 84.6
Age at doctorate (median years) 32.3 31.3 34.5 31.0 33.1 33.8 34.8
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 9.3 8.3 11.7 8.1 10.0 11.0 11.3
From graduate school start 7.7 7.0 9.5 6.7 8.2 9.0 9.0
From doctoral program startc 6.0 6.0 7.7 5.7 6.3 7.0 6.0
Male doctorate recipients (number) 3,762 1,060 186 820 527 284 885
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 68.9 82.5 76.3 44.6 71.3 75.7 69.8
Temporary visa holder 23.7 8.2 18.3 47.3 21.4 18.0 24.5
Unknown 7.5 9.3 5.4 8.0 7.2 6.3 5.6
Marital status (%)
Never married 27.1 27.3 26.9 31.1 25.0 23.2 25.9
Married 47.6 41.4 47.3 46.7 50.3 51.8 52.9
Marriage-like relationship 9.1 10.3 9.7 8.2 8.2 12.7 7.7
Separated, divorced, widowed 2.6 2.9 5.9 1.1 2.1 2.5 3.3
Unknown 13.6 18.1 10.2 12.9 14.4 9.9 10.3
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 47.1 59.9 40.9 53.5 53.5 39.8 25.5
Master's earned (%) 81.1 77.9 82.8 77.0 79.5 89.8 86.4
Age at doctorate (median years) 32.8 32.0 35.1 31.2 33.4 34.2 35.0
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 9.4 8.6 12.0 8.1 10.0 10.9 11.3
From graduate school start 7.7 7.0 9.8 6.7 8.3 8.9 8.9
From doctoral program startc 5.9 5.7 7.7 5.7 6.3 7.0 5.8
Female doctorate recipients (number) 5,332 2,722 307 436 332 461 1,074
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 77.0 82.0 83.1 42.7 73.8 83.1 75.0
Temporary visa holder 13.8 6.4 11.4 50.2 19.6 10.8 18.0
Unknown 9.2 11.6 5.5 7.1 6.6 6.1 7.1
Marital status (%)
Never married 26.5 26.5 29.3 33.3 25.6 25.2 23.8
Married 41.5 38.4 39.7 44.3 44.9 46.0 46.0
Marriage-like relationship 11.2 10.7 13.4 7.3 10.8 12.6 12.8
Separated, divorced, widowed 4.5 4.0 7.5 1.8 5.4 5.2 5.6
Unknown 16.3 20.5 10.1 13.3 13.3 11.1 11.8
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 50.3 62.5 46.6 58.5 57.2 41.6 18.5
Master's earned (%) 79.7 76.2 85.7 78.7 81.6 87.6 83.1
Age at doctorate (median years) 32.0 31.1 34.1 30.6 32.4 33.6 34.6
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 9.3 8.3 11.5 8.2 9.9 11.0 11.5
From graduate school start 7.7 7.0 9.3 6.8 8.2 9.0 9.2
From doctoral program startc 6.0 6.0 7.7 5.7 6.6 7.0 6.0
* = value < 0.05%.
a Includes respondents who did not report sex.
b A bachelor's degree is counted as "in same field as doctorate" if the fields of study for the doctorate recipient's bachelor's degree and doctorate degree are both in the same major field category of the National Science Foundation's field of study taxonomy, except for engineering and education fields where broad field categories need be the same. See table A-6 in the technical notes for a listing of major fields and their constituent subfields.
c Time to doctorate from doctoral program start is based on master's degree entry if the master's degree was at the doctoral institution in the same fine field of study or was a prerequisite to the doctorate; otherwise, it is based on doctoral program entry.
NOTE: 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.