Race/Ethnicity
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The population of science and engineering doctorates was 84 percent white, 12 percent Asian, 2 percent black, 2 percent Native American, and less than 1 percent Hispanic.
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Asians comprised 29 percent of the doctorates in computer sciences and engineering.
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The highest concentrations of blacks were in health and social sciences, both 4 percent.
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The racial/ethnic composition of science and engineering Ph.D. cohorts changed over time as each successive cohort included a higher proportion of Asians, Native Americans, and blacks. Of the doctorates who earned degrees more than 25 years earlier, 6 percent were Asian; for the most recent 5-year cohort, the proportion who were Asian was 22 percent. Looking at these same two cohorts, the proportion of doctorates who were Native American increased from 1 to 4 percent, and the proportion who were black increased from 1 to 3 percent.
Age in 1995
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Of all science and engineering doctorates, 42 percent were age 44 or younger. Doctorates age 55 or older accounted for 25 percent of the population.
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The youngest doctorates were in computer sciences: 81 percent were age 44 or less. Chemistry had the highest proportion of doctorates age 55 or older (31 percent).
Year of Doctorate
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About 7 percent of all science and engineering doctorates received their degrees before 1960. Another 44 percent were earned between 1960 and 1979, and 50 percent were earned after 1979.
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Fifty-one percent of the degrees in computer sciences were earned since 1989, due primarily to the burgeoning number of programs in that field. A relatively high proportion of health science doctorates were also earned within the most recent 5 years—30 percent, compared with 19 percent for science and engineering doctorates overall.
