Doctorate participation data

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General

Since 2005, the percentage of women awarded PhD’s in Economics has hovered around 32 percent, a similar rate to that of undergraduates. This demonstrates that between undergraduate economic programs and graduate economic programs, the Economics pipeline isn’t necessarily “leaky.” Therefore, this information demonstrates that the percentage of women gaining doctorate degrees in Economics may be more dependent on undergraduate retention rates of women and suggests a need for a higher focus on encouraging female participation in Economics at an undergraduate level rather than a doctoral level.

Unfortunately, there is very little recent data available concerning the percentage of PhD’s in economics awarded to underrepresented minorities. The data provided by the Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession states that between 1993-2004, of all economics doctorates awarded to U.S citizens, an average of 3.8% were awarded to African Americans, 3.6% to Hispanics, and 0.1% to Native Americans. These percentages are lower than the participation rates at an undergraduate level (5.3% and 6.4% for African Americans and Hispanics respectively) but not by a large amount, suggesting once again that the "leak" in the pipeline occurs at the undergraduate level rather than the doctoral level.

Secondary Sources

http://www.aeaweb.org/committees/CSMGEP/statistics/

http://www.aeaweb.org/committees/CSMGEP/resources/newsletter/08/economic_faculties.html

Race

In 2009, the doctorate degrees awarded to underrepresented minorities in Economics, the Social Sciences, and the STEM fields varied significantly. Once again, significant differences in participation are especially evident for Black students. Black students earned 2.0% of the doctorate degrees in Economics, whereas Black students earned 6.8% of the doctorate degrees in the Social Sciences and 4.8% of the doctorate degrees in STEM fields. The percentage of Hispanic students earning doctorate degrees in Economics (4.4%) is fairly close to the percentage of Hispanic students earning doctorate degrees in STEM fields (4.3%) as well as in the Social Sciences (5.2%). Similarly, American Indian/Alaska Native students are represented at the doctorate level in Economics (0.4%), the Social Sciences (1.0%), and the STEM Fields (0.5%) at comparable participation rates.

DocEcon.pngDoctorateDegreeSS.pngDoctorateDegreeSTEM.png Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System(IPEDS) Completions, 1995-2009 (Washington , D.C.: NCES, 2011). Includes only U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Created by data provided by WebCaspar.

Gender

Similar to the undergraduate level, women are significantly underrepresented at the doctorate level in Economics when compared to the STEM fields and to the Social Sciences. In 2009, women earned 38.2% of the doctorate degrees in Economics. In contrast, in the Social Sciences, women earned 50.5% of the doctorate degrees in the Social Sciences and 54.1% of the doctorate degrees in STEM fields.

DocDegreeEcon.pngDocDegreeSSGen.pngDocDegreeSTEMGen.png Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System(IPEDS) Completions, 1995-2009 (Washington , D.C.: NCES, 2011). Includes only U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Created by data provided by WebCaspar.