In 2018, underrepresented minority students received 24.0% of all S&E bachelor’s degrees awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, 22.1% of S&E master’s degrees, and 13.6% of all S&E doctoral degrees. Underrepresented minorities have earned an increasing share of degrees at all three degree levels over the past 10 years, the only exception being a slight decline in doctorates since 2016. Even with the slight dip in the share of doctoral degrees, the number of underrepresented minority doctorate recipients increased nearly 50% over the past 10 years, from 2,247 in 2008 to 3,351 in 2018 (figure 14).

In 2018, among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, Whites earned 57.9% of bachelor’s degrees in S&E fields and Asians earned 10.7%. Hispanic and Latino graduates were awarded 15.1% of S&E bachelor’s degrees; Black or African Americans, 8.5%; and American Indian or Alaska Natives, 0.4%. All three groups of underrepresented minorities earned a larger share of bachelor’s degrees in science fields than in engineering fields in 2018 (figure 15).

The share of S&E bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanics or Latinos increased over the past 10 years, from 8.5% of all S&E bachelor’s degrees awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents in 2008 to 15.1% in 2018. In 2018, the S&E fields with the largest Hispanic or Latino representation were psychology (20.0%), social sciences (18.0%), and biological and agricultural sciences (13.6%) (figure 16).

HHEs play an important role in educating Hispanic or Latino students. In 2018, 51.4% of Hispanic or Latino bachelor’s degree recipients in all fields earned their degree from HHE institutions, and the share for those in S&E fields was almost as large (49.2%). Both shares of HHE graduates were slightly higher than they were in 2016. These institutions also are important in training Hispanic students for doctoral studies—37.8% of Hispanics or Latinos who received an S&E research doctorate between 2015 and 2019 received their bachelor’s degree from an HHE institution. These institutions are the baccalaureate origins of an even larger share of Hispanic doctorate recipients in biological and biomedical sciences, computer and information sciences, physical sciences and earth sciences, and psychology (figure 17). (See appendix table A-1 for the top baccalaureate institutions of Hispanic or Latino S&E doctorate recipients.)

Blacks or African Americans, like Hispanics or Latinos, had larger representation in undergraduate fields of psychology (12.2% in 2018) and social sciences (11.3%) than they did in other undergraduate S&E fields. Overall, the shares of Black or African American bachelor’s degree recipients in S&E fields held fairly steady, maintaining about 8% over 2008 to 2018. However, the number of S&E bachelor's degrees awarded to Blacks or African Americans increased by 35.9% over the past 10 years, from 41,263 in 2008 to 56,084 in 2018. This increase is roughly close to the growth rate in the number of S&E bachelor’s degrees, 37.7% growth over the decade, which resulted in a similar proportion of Blacks or African Americans awarded bachelor's degrees in S&E fields over 2008 to 2018. However, representation in specific S&E fields has changed at different rates, with a relatively large decline in computer sciences and relatively little change in other S&E fields. In computer sciences, the number of Blacks or African Americans receiving bachelor’s degrees increased from 4,011 to 6,558 from 2008 to 2018, but their share declined from 10.8% to 8.9% (figure 18).

HBCUs have an important role in preparing students for S&E doctoral programs. Although 14.9% of Blacks or African Americans who received a bachelor’s degree in S&E fields in 2018 did so from an HBCU, 23.2% of Black or African American graduates who earned an S&E doctorate between 2015 and 2019 earned their bachelor’s degree from an HBCU. Both shares were slightly down over the past few years, yet it is clear that HBCUs continue to have an impact in increasing diversity in the science and engineering fields. HBCUs produced large shares of baccalaureate recipients who later earned doctoral degrees in agricultural sciences and natural resources, computer and information sciences, and mathematics and statistics (figure 19). (See appendix table A-1 for the top baccalaureate institutions of Black or African American S&E doctorate recipients.)