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Women for the first time in American history earned the majority of U.S. doctoral degrees (50.4%) last year, according to a report released this month by the Council of Graduate Schools. The survey examined 57,600 doctorates, 90 percent of the total in the U.S received in the 2008-2009 academic year.

Stereotypes Still Affect Women Today. But the fields in which women now make up a majority go far beyond traditional disciplines. The most woman-dominated fields include:  arts and humanities (53% women), education (67% women), social and behavioral sciences (60% women ),  health sciences (70%women) and biological and agricultural Sciences (51% women).

There are still doctorate fields that continue to be dominated by men. 78% of Engineering doctorates and 73% of Math and Computer Sciences doctorates were awarded to men last year.

This milestone was somewhat predictable, as women have received the majority of masters degrees since the 1980s.  Women constitute the majority of new doctorate recipients and their numbers increased by 6.1 last year. During the last 10 years, annual rates of increase in doctorates awarded to women was more than double compared to the male percentage. Today 60 percent of all master graduates are women.  If trends continue, the number of female doctorate recipients it is likely to continue rising.

Reference: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/09/14/doctorates

Tags: Arts and Humanities, Biological and Agricultural Sciences, Course, Doctoral Degrees, Education, engineering, Engineering Doctorate, Health Sciences, Math and Computer Sciences, Ph.D., Ph.D. Programs, Report, Research, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Stereotypes, Study, United States