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SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DEGREES. 91 TOTAL PH.D. DEGREES: S&E AND OTHER FIELDS During the 1960s and early 1970s, the total numbers of Ph.D. degrees awarded annually increased steeply, from 9 thousand in 1958 to 35 thousand in 1974. Awards declined to 33 thousand in 1978, then rose to 35 thousand again in 1988. Similarly, the numbers of Ph.D. degrees in science and engineering also fluctuated, from 6 thousand in 1958 to 18 thousand in 1974, down to 17 thousand in 1978, and up to over 20 thousand in 1988. The share of total Ph.D. degrees awarded in the sciences and engineering dipped from 65 percent in 1958 to nearly 50 percent in 1978, before increasing to 57 percent in the late-1980s. Figure 2-92: Ph.D. Degrees Awarded in S&E and Other Fields Figure 2-93: Distribution of Ph.D. Degrees Awarded in S&E and Other Fields NOTE: Data series within the figures are not overlapped; top line represents total. DEFINITION OF TERMS: Science/Engineering Ph.D. 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 behavioral sciences, including economics, political science, psychology, sociology. Other Fields are all Ph.D. degrees other than those awarded in the sciences and engineering. 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.
