Report

The number of research doctoral degrees awarded by U.S. institutions in 2021 decreased to 52,250, down from 55,224 in 2020, according to the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) (figure 1). Since the survey’s inception in 1957, the number of doctorates awarded shows an upward trend—average annual growth of 3.0%—punctuated by periods of slow growth and even decline. However, the decline in 2021 is the second consecutive annual drop and the steepest in the history of the SED (-5.4%).

Since the SED began collecting data, the number of research doctorates awarded in science and engineering (S&E) fields has exceeded the number of non-S&E doctorates, and over time the gap has widened. From 1985 to 2021, the number of S&E doctorate recipients has more than doubled, while the number of non-S&E doctorate recipients in 2021 declined to just below the 1985 count. As a result, the proportion of S&E doctorates to all doctorates climbed from 62% in 1985 to 78% in 2021. The 2021 decline in the number of doctorate recipients was larger in S&E than in non-S&E fields, but the proportion was greater for non-S&E than for S&E fields.

In the past 20 years, most of the growth in the number of doctorates earned by both men and women has been in S&E fields (figure 5). During this period, the number of female doctorate recipients in S&E fields increased by 72%, although starting from a smaller base, compared with a 40% increase in the number of male S&E doctorate recipients. The proportion of female doctorate recipients in S&E increased from 38% in 2001 to 42% in 2010, and it has remained fairly stable since then.

In non-S&E fields, women earned 58% of doctorates in 2021, a proportion that has changed little since the early 2000s. Between 2001 and 2021, the number of female non-S&E doctorate recipients declined by 14%, while the number of male doctorate recipients in those fields declined by 22%.

Between 2019 and 2021, the decline in the number and proportion of male S&E doctorate recipients was larger than the decline in female S&E doctorate recipients. In contrast, in non-S&E fields, the decline was larger among women than among men.

From 2001 to 2021, the proportion of doctorates earned by White U.S. citizens and permanent residents declined from 77% to 67%, and the proportion earned by Asian U.S. citizens and permanent residents increased from 7% to 10%.^{​For additional data on the race and ethnicity of doctorate recipients, see SED 2021 related detailed table 1-11.} The participation in doctoral education by Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino U.S. citizens and permanent residents increased, although starting from a small number.

In the past 20 years, the number of Hispanic or Latino doctorate recipients in S&E increased from 693 to 2,135 (figure 6). As a result, the proportion of doctorates earned by this group among U.S. citizens and permanent residents grew from 4% in 2001 to 9% in 2021. The number of Black or African American doctorate recipients in S&E increased from 715 in 2001 to 1,392 in 2021, and the proportion of doctorates they earned among U.S. citizens and permanent residents increased from 4% to 6% during this period. Between 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2021, however, the number of Black or African American doctorate recipients in S&E declined by 73 and the number of Hispanic or Latino doctorate recipients in S&E increased by 57.

Between 2001 and 2021, the number of American Indian or Alaska Native doctorate recipients in S&E fluctuated between 49 and 86. Since 2019, it declined from 77 to 64, remaining under 0.5% of S&E doctorates awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.