Fields in Which Not One African American Earned a Doctorate in 2009

In 2009, 49,562 doctorates were awarded by American universities. As previously reported by JBHE, there were 2,221 black U.S. citizens or permanent residents in this country who earned a doctorate in 2009. This is an all-time high.

But not all the news is good. African Americans earned only 1.6 percent of all doctorates awarded in the physical sciences by American universities. The 25 blacks who earned a Ph.D. in mathematics were only 1.6 percent of all doctorates in the field given out by U.S. universities. African Americans earned only 1.8 percent of all doctorates in engineering.

In 2009, 1,418 doctorates were awarded in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, theoretical chemistry, paleontology, number theory, logic, marine science, chemical and physical oceanography, nuclear physics, nuclear engineering, agronomy, horticulture, wildlife/range management, animal breeding and nutrition, Spanish, and the classics. Not one of these 1,418 doctorates was awarded to an African American.