STEM Graduates in the USA: 465,000 Women and 451,000 Men
Posted on October 4, 2014 Comments (1)
STEM baccalaureate degrees in the USA in 2010 (reported by NSF in 2014):
| Field | Women |
|
Men |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science (including math) | 442,000 | 343,000 | |
| Engineering | 23,000 | 108,000 | |
| Health | 193,000 | 36,000 | |
| Total | 658,000 | 486,000 |
If you exclude health, women still lead 465,000 to 451,000.
The same data for master’s degrees:
| Field | Women |
|
Men |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science (including math) | 86,000 | 72,000 | |
| Engineering | 14,000 | 49,000 | |
| Health | 97,000 | 22,000 | |
| Total | 197,000 | 147,000 |
Excluding health the totals are: women 100,000, men 125,000.
In 2005, 235,197 women received undergraduate science and engineering degrees, compared to 230,806 for men. In 2005, 53,051 women received masters science and engineering degrees, compared to 66,974 men. All increased a large amount from 2005 to 2010 and degrees awarded to women increased much faster than the increase seen for men.
As I predicted in 2008 (Women Choosing Other Fields Over Engineering and Math) the trends continued and resulted in large imbalances in favor of women at the undergraduate level for science related degrees.
At the masters level women continue to increase degrees (nearly doubling from 2005 to 2010 excluding health). The relative gains (compared to men) at the masters level are small in that 5 year period, but it seems to me the news is mainly good. I expect women will show relative gains at the masters and PhD levels going forward, though those gains may well be slower than they were at the undergraduate level.
STEM fields continue to show large gender imbalances (with women and men dominating certain fields and being relatively rare in others). Continuing to provide opportunities for talented and interested students to explore their field of choice is important for the students well being and for the well being of society. We want to take advantage of the great minds we have and not have people excluded from pursuing their dreams.
Related: Alternative Career Paths Attract Many Women in Science Fields – The USA is Losing Scientists and Engineers Educated in the USA
Categories: Education, Engineering, Science, Students, Universities
Tags: engineering education, graduate students, science education, undergraduate students, Universities, women
One Response to “STEM Graduates in the USA: 465,000 Women and 451,000 Men”
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January 13th, 2015 @ 9:11 am
In the UK we have a real problem with STEM graduates, and there is research which suggests that we’re going to fall short of engineers etc. in the coming years. Part of this might also be linked to parental views – children are less encouraged to go in to STEM; this research shows that only 1% of parents of daughters would encourage their child to go in to STEM subjects for instance.