Research Doctoral Degrees Decline

Official results will be released in a December summary report showing that the Ph.D. total is down 4.5 percent from an all-time high in 1998, with 40,744 degrees being awarded in 2001 in relation to 42,654 given out in 1998.

The study usually shows fluctuations of about 1 percent from year to year, said SED Institutional Coordinator Jamie Friedman.

A more pressing concern is a drop in the number of science and engineering doctorates being awarded, said Debra Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools.

Total degrees given in these fields has dropped 6.5 percent since 1998.

"These numbers go up and down," she said. "What we're really concerned about is the fact that science and engineering (numbers) are down."

But Stewart said the concern is moderated by steadily increasing enrollment in both types of graduate programs -- master's and doctoral.

Enrollment in graduate programs seems to have an inverse relationship with the state of the economy, she said.

Stewart also said that over the next few years, the growing number of students enrolled in master's programs will graduate and likely will enroll in doctoral programs.

The number of doctoral degree holders should spike again within the next few years as a result, she said.

UNC officials also said the projected number of doctoral students earning degrees at the University is on the rise. They also said the study's findings do not correspond with the number of degrees awarded at the school.

The University's doctoral program had 376 graduates in 2001. The number of graduates is expected to increase by about 5 percent for the year 2002, said Cheryl Thomas, UNC director of graduate admissions.

Thomas also noted that UNC has more women receiving doctoral degrees than men.

The entire University traditionally has more women than men -- 62 percent to 38 percent for fall 2002 -- Thomas said. "That (number) generally reflects across the board."

The study also showed an increasing number of women receiving doctoral degrees despite the fact that there is an overall decline in Ph.D. earners.

Out of the total number of U.S. citizens receiving doctorates, 49.5 percent are women. "Women are the fastest-growing participant group in graduate education," Stewart said.

She added that she thinks these statistics are only the beginning of this upward trend.

The number of women in engineering and science doctoral programs, which have historically been dominated by men, also is steadily increasing. Women's enrollment in science graduate programs is about 50 percent, though they still are an objectively small percentage in engineering, Stewart said.

The survey, which used statistics from more than 400 universities that grant research doctorates, has been conducted for the past 50 years to assess trends in the awarding of doctoral degrees.

The University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center has been contracted out for many years to conduct the survey, Friedman said.

The study is sponsored by six federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities and NASA.

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.