The data presented in this report show trends in doctorate awards by science and engineering (S&E;) field and recipient characteristics, institutions awarding doctorates, and postgraduation
plans of recipients. The source of the data is the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED).
The SED is conducted annually for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and four other Federal agencies by the National Research Council. Information from this survey becomes part of the Doctorate Records
File, which is a census of recipients of research doctorates awarded since 1920 by regionally accredited universities and colleges. Doctoral degrees such as the Ph.D. or D. Sc. are included in these surveys, but first-professional degrees such as
the J.D. or M.D. are not.
Data for the SED are collected directly from the individual doctorate recipients. The questionnaire is distributed to them through the cooperation of the graduate deans to persons as they are completing
their doctorate. The data for a given year include all doctorates awarded in the 12-month period ending on June 30 of that year.
These tables present detailed data on (S&E;) doctorate recipients, with some totals provided for broad non-S&E; fields. Detailed data on non-S&E; fields are published by the National Research Council and by
other Federal sponsors of the Survey of Earned Doctorates. The groupings of field specialties into broad fields may differ among the sponsoring agencies according to their missions; for example, heath fields are not included in the NSF science
fields.
Approximately 94 percent of the annual cohort of doctorate recipients in 1995 responded to the questionnaire. Over the decade, though, the response rate ranged from 94 percent in 1986 to 921percent in 1989
and 94 percent in 1995. Note that most of the numbers presented are actual self-reports, as there are no adjustments for nonresponse. For the nonrespondents, partial data from public sources are added to the file for nonrespondents; therefore
complete counts are presented for conferred doctorates by field of study and sex of recipient. Although some tables present data subject to nonresponse, the estimates represent the conservative known estimate for any data item. Therefore, small
changes in numbers should be interpreted with caution, as numerical trends are affected by fluctuations in response rates. Thus, declines and increases may appear greater than they actually are.
For information on the availability of additional data for S&E; doctorate recipients, please contact-
Susan T. Hill
Division of Science Resources Studies
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965
Arlington, VA. 22230
Telephone: (703) 306-1774
Electronic mail: sthill@nsf.gov
