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Table 56. Statistical profile of doctorate recipients in life sciences fields, by sex and field of study: 2016

Characteristic All life sciences fields Agricultural sciences and natural resources Biological and biomedical sciences Health sciences
All doctorate recipients (number)a 12,568 1,385 8,884 2,299
Sex (%)
Male 44.9 54.9 46.9 31.3
Female 55.1 45.1 53.1 68.7
Unknown * 0.1 * 0.0
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 69.2 55.8 70.1 73.9
Temporary visa holder 26.8 40.7 26.0 21.2
Unknown 4.0 3.5 3.9 4.9
Marital status (%)
Never married 33.1 30.4 35.9 24.2
Married 45.1 50.0 42.2 53.2
Marriage-like relationship 9.6 7.4 10.8 6.3
Separated, divorced, widowed 2.8 2.5 2.3 5.0
Unknown 9.4 9.7 8.8 11.4
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 49.7 43.1 53.2 40.3
Master's earned (%) 50.9 78.1 40.1 76.4
Age at doctorate (median years) 30.9 32.2 30.3 34.7
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 8.2 9.1 7.7 11.3
From graduate school start 6.7 7.3 6.4 8.7
From doctoral program startc 5.7 5.2 5.7 5.3
Male doctorate recipients (number) 5,643 760 4,163 720
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 65.8 54.6 68.7 61.1
Temporary visa holder 30.2 41.4 27.5 34.2
Unknown 4.0 3.9 3.9 4.7
Marital status (%)
Never married 34.1 25.8 36.6 28.1
Married 45.3 55.7 42.1 52.6
Marriage-like relationship 9.1 6.4 10.1 6.4
Separated, divorced, widowed 2.0 1.8 2.1 1.4
Unknown 9.6 10.3 9.1 11.5
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 48.7 45.9 51.3 36.8
Master's earned (%) 49.8 79.9 40.6 71.4
Age at doctorate (median years) 31.0 32.7 30.6 32.9
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 8.0 9.4 7.8 9.7
From graduate school start 6.7 7.7 6.6 7.7
From doctoral program startc 5.7 5.2 5.7 5.0
Female doctorate recipients (number) 6,923 624 4,720 1,579
Citizenship (%)
U.S. citizen or permanent resident 72.0 57.2 71.3 79.7
Temporary visa holder 23.9 39.9 24.7 15.3
Unknown 4.1 2.9 3.9 5.0
Marital status (%)
Never married 32.4 36.1 35.2 22.4
Married 44.9 43.1 42.2 53.5
Marriage-like relationship 10.0 8.5 11.4 6.2
Separated, divorced, widowed 3.5 3.4 2.5 6.6
Unknown 9.2 9.0 8.6 11.3
Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%)b 50.6 39.7 54.9 41.9
Master's earned (%) 51.9 76.0 39.7 78.7
Age at doctorate (median years) 30.9 31.6 30.1 35.7
Time to doctorate (median years)
From bachelor's 8.3 8.7 7.6 12.2
From graduate school start 6.7 7.0 6.3 9.5
From doctoral program startc 5.7 5.1 5.7 5.3
* = 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, 2016.