Field trends
Science and engineering
Doctorates in science and engineering (S&E) fields are a growing share of all doctorates awarded. Overall, S&E doctorates accounted for 75% of all doctorates awarded in 2016, a substantially larger share than 10 and 20 years earlier (69% and 67%, respectively). Every broad S&E field except for psychology and social sciences increased both their number and share of doctorates over the past 2 decades. Psychology and social sciences increased in the number of doctorate recipients, but its share of all doctorates stayed about the same. Mathematics and computer sciences, with the smallest number of doctorates awarded among the S&E fields, almost doubled the number of doctorates awarded over the past 20 years, from 2,042 in 1996 to 3,957 in 2016.
Doctorates awarded in science and engineering fields of study: 1996–2016
| Year | Life sciences | Physical sciences and earth sciences | Mathematics and computer sciences | Psychology and social sciences | Engineering |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 19.6 | 10.7 | 4.8 | 16.9 | 14.9 |
| 1997 | 19.8 | 10.7 | 4.8 | 17.3 | 14.4 |
| 1998 | 20.2 | 10.7 | 4.9 | 17.3 | 13.9 |
| 1999 | 20.0 | 10.4 | 4.7 | 18.0 | 13.0 |
| 2000 | 20.8 | 9.8 | 4.6 | 18.0 | 12.9 |
| 2001 | 20.5 | 9.9 | 4.5 | 17.6 | 13.5 |
| 2002 | 21.2 | 9.7 | 4.3 | 17.3 | 12.7 |
| 2003 | 20.9 | 9.7 | 4.6 | 17.4 | 13.0 |
| 2004 | 20.9 | 9.6 | 4.8 | 17.0 | 13.7 |
| 2005 | 21.5 | 10.0 | 5.4 | 16.5 | 14.8 |
| 2006 | 21.3 | 10.3 | 6.1 | 15.9 | 15.8 |
| 2007 | 22.2 | 10.3 | 6.3 | 15.2 | 16.1 |
| 2008 | 22.7 | 10.1 | 6.5 | 15.7 | 16.1 |
| 2009 | 23.0 | 10.4 | 6.4 | 16.0 | 15.4 |
| 2010 | 23.6 | 10.4 | 6.7 | 16.4 | 15.8 |
| 2011 | 23.6 | 10.8 | 6.7 | 16.8 | 16.4 |
| 2012 | 23.5 | 10.6 | 6.9 | 16.7 | 16.6 |
| 2013 | 23.2 | 10.6 | 6.9 | 16.3 | 17.1 |
| 2014 | 23.1 | 10.9 | 7.2 | 16.2 | 17.8 |
| 2015 | 22.8 | 10.8 | 7.0 | 16.5 | 18.0 |
| 2016 | 22.9 | 11.4 | 7.2 | 16.5 | 17.2 |
- SOURCE: Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities 2016. Related detailed data: tables 4, 7, 12, 13.
