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SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DEGREES. 90 S&E BACHELORS DEGREES: GENDER During the past 15-years, the increase in the number of bachelors degrees in the sciences and engineering, although slight, is attributable to additional numbers of women obtaining such degrees. By 1986, the number of S&E bachelor degrees awarded to women rose to nearly 160 thousand, then leveled off in the late-1980s. The number of S&E bachelors degrees awarded annually to men has been generally flat for the past 15-years; fluctuating near the 1980s level of 210 thousand. As a consequence, the share of these degrees awarded to women increased from 20 percent in 1958 to 45 percent by 1980, where it has remained. Figure 2-90: Bachelors Degrees Awarded in S&E by Gender Figure 2-91: Distribution of Bachelors Degrees Awarded in S&E by Gender NOTE: Data series within the figures are not overlapped; top line represents total. DEFINITION OF TERMS: Science and engineering bachelors degrees are awarded in life sciences, including agricultural, biological, medical, and other health sciences; physical sciences including astronomy, chemistry, and physics; engineering including aeronautical and astronautical, chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering; environmental sciences including oceanography, atmospheric, and earth sciences; mathematics and computer science including all fields of mathematics and computer-related sciences; and social and other, including economics, political science, psychology, sociology. SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Division of Policy Research and Analysis. Database: CASPAR. Some of the data within this database are estimates, incorporated where there are discontinuities within data series or gaps in data collection. Primary data source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS): Degrees and Other Formal Awards Conferred.