The Gender Gap in Professional Degree Awards to African Americans

The year 1989 was the first year that black women earned more professional degree awards than black men. These degrees are in fields such as law, medicine, dentistry, divinity, veterinary medicine, podiatry, and others. Today, the gender gap in professional degree awards for African Americans is large but not as wide as in the case of bachelor’s or master’s degree attainments. In 2007 black women earned 63 percent of all professional degrees awarded to African Americans. This is down from 64 percent in 2005.

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