A Challenge of Numbers People in the Mathematical Sciences (1990) / Chapter Skim
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4 Majors in Mathematics and Statistics
4 Majors in Mathematics and Statistics
Pages 35-52
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From page 35... ...
Introduction The prebaccalaureate "pipeline" population in mathematics and statistics is elusive as students move in and out of degree programs. The attrition rate for this population is certainly not uniform from year to year, but, for recent years, assuming an attrition rate of 50% per year from the ninth grade onward gives surprisingly close estimates of the actual number of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees awarded in mathematics and statistics (Figure 4.1)
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From page 36... ...
Current numbers of degrees awarded annually are approximately the same as those for the early 1960s and very near the averages for the past 40 years: 15,000 bachelor's degrees, 3,000 master's degrees, and 800 doctoral degrees. These numbers are each 40-45% lower than the analogous numbers for peak production in the early 1970s.
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From page 37... ...
Undergraduate Majors The number of baccalaureate degrees awarded in mathematics rose from 11,000 in 1960 to a high of 27,000 in 1970, declined steadily throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, and by 1986 had rebounded slightly to the current level of 16,000 (Figure 4.53. The fraction of freshmen anticipating a mathematical sciences major has dropped sharply, from 3.3% in 1970 to 0.6% in 1987, and the share of degrees awarded to women has increased steadily, from about one-th~rd in the mid- 1 960s to almost one-half (46%)
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From page 38... ...
is not a very good forecast of the number of mathematics degrees awarded four years later. The discrepancy between expected and actual major and the recent changing migration of talent into rather than out of the mathematics pipeline make any discussion of persistence in the choice of major somewhat speculative.
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From page 39... ...
. TABLE 4.2 Changes in mathematical sciences majors by undergraduate grade point averages,1981 freshman cohort Undergraduate grade point averages A A- or By B or less Percent persisting in freshman choice Percent defecting to Biology Physical sciences Social sciences Engmeenag Business Education Technical fields Other 87 N 13 N N N N N N 22 5 N N 28 N 19 8 19 N 3 14 20 14 ~2 15 17 a N means no significant number.
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From page 40... ...
On average, of every five mathematics graduates employed in a science or engineering field, two found work in a mathematics or statistics field, two in computer science, and one in engineering, economics, or some other field. The 1986 median annual salary of $24,100 for mathematics bachelor's degree holders was just below the TABLE 43 1985 bachelor's degrees awarded in mathematical sciences average of $25,000 for all science and engineering fields, trailed the average for engineering (530,000)
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From page 41... ...
The number of baccalaureates conferred In education and the number in mathematics have declined as dramatically as the interestlevels of entering, freshmen. From 1971 to 1985, education degrees awarded annually decreased by 50%, and mathematics degrees decreased by 39%.
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From page 42... ...
Recently, there has been an upswing, in the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in mathematics education (see Appendix Table A4.4~; however, these figures are small when compared to the 16,000 school districts that need mathematics teachers. In addition to education majors specializing in mathematics, the other main source of high school mathematics teachers is undergraduate mathematics majors.
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From page 43... ...
institutions (Figure4.1 1~. Fewer women, blacks, and Hispanics enroll in graduate programs than their share among bachelor's degree holders would predict.
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From page 44... ...
Small numbers of non-Asian minority students are enrolled in graduate programs; however, in terms of percentages, more such students are enrolled in master' s-grantina institutions than are enrolled in doctorate-granting institutions (see Appendix Table A4.9~. Mathematical sciences graduate students depend heavily on institutional teaching assistantships for support during their studies.
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From page 45... ...
The percent of graduate students with fellowships was about the same in the mathematical sciences, the 100% ~ 80~c 60% 40~G .20C/o 0% Male Female Self support Other outside support 111115 Federal Institutional FIGURE 4.12 Source of major support for mathematical sciences graduate students in doctorate-granting institutions, 1986. (See Appendix Table A4.7.)
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From page 46... ...
The gender composition of the master's degree recipients changed from 20% women in the mid-1960s to 35% women in 1986. The majorincrease in the representation of women occurred dune=, the period from 1965 to 1975; since then the number and proportion of degrees awarded to women have been relatively steady at about 1,000 and 35%, respectively (see Appendix Table A4.11.
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From page 47... ...
Mathematical scientists, like engineers attain doctoral degrees after master's degrees at a relatively low rate compared to that for other scientists (see Chapter 2~. But a significant proportion of master's degree recipients in the mathematical sciences do continue on to study for a doctorate.
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From page 48... ...
Close to half of master's graduates worked in the business and industry sector, two-fifths worked in educational institu tions, and the remainder worked in government or other sectors. Doctoral Degree Recipients The number of doctorates awarded by U.S.
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From page 49... ...
citizens among, new doctorates awarded in the physical sciences stood at 63~o in 1986, about 12 points higher than in the TABLE 4.11 Mathematics majors going on to doctoral study in other areas of science and engineering, 1960 to 1985 Mathematics majors earning ~ = ~ doctorates in science/engineennga doctorates in mathematics Ratio 1960 290 207 0.71 1965 639 484 0.76 1970 1362 924 0.68 1975 1310 883 0.67 1980 1139 609 0.53 1985 959 506 0.53 a Includes mathematics and the social sciences. SOURCE: Edward A
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From page 50... ...
Among all doctorate recipients in 1986, women were better represented, havin, received 35% of the degrees; but in the physical sciences women were awarded only 16% of the new doctoral degrees and in engineering only 7~G. Blacks and Hispanics receive inordinately few of the doctorates awarded in the mathematical sciences.
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From page 51... ...
. An NRC survey showed that the number of doctoral degree holders with postdoctoral study plans increased from about 10% to 23~c of the total in the past tern 1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 O r ' ~ ~ ~ ~ .
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From page 52... ...
The NRC survey asked new doctoral degree recipients to check one of five reasons as the most important reason for either taking or deciding against a postdoctoral appointment. In this survey, two dominant reasons were given for deciding against postdoctoral study in mathematics: "No postdoctoral available" was given by 38%, and "attractive employment" was given by 42%.
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