Women Awarded More Doctorates Than Men

According to new Council of Graduate Schools data released today, women were awarded more doctoral degrees than men in 2008-09, obtaining 50.4 percent of those granted across disciplines. Notably, women were awarded 50.9 percent of all doctoral degrees in biological and agricultural sciences and 70.2 percent of those in health sciences; men obtained 78.4 and 66.6 percent of all doctorates in engineering and physical and earth sciences, respectively. Nathan Bell, director of research and policy analysis for CGS, tells Inside Higher Ed that these data are indicative of a "natural progression of what we have been seeing" in higher education, and adds that "the pipeline is increasingly female."