Academic Fields Where Blacks Earn Few or No Doctoral Degrees in 2017

The National Science Foundation recently released its annual data on doctoral degree recipients in the United States. As reported in a recent JBHE post, data for the annual Survey of Earned Doctorates shows that universities in the United States conferred 54,641 doctorates in 2017. Of these, 2,963, or 5.4 percent were awarded to Black students.

But Blacks are vastly underrepresented among doctoral degree recipients in some disciplines. For example, African Americans earned only 1.2 percent of all doctorates awarded in physics to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Blacks earned 0.9 percent of all mathematics and statistics doctorates, 1 percent of all doctorates in computer science, 2 percent of all doctorates in chemistry,and only 1.7 percent of all doctorates awarded in engineering disciplines.

In 2017, there were 1,176 doctorates awarded by U.S. universities in the fields of plant genetics, wildlife biology, medical physics, atmospheric physics, chemical and physical oceanography, plasma/high temperature physics, geometry, logic, number theory, robotics, structural engineering, English as a second language, Italian, Middle/Near East history, classics, music,  and music performance. Not one went to an African American.

Related Articles

3 COMMENTS

  1. Out of 106 HBCU’s in the country, not ONE of them has a bachelors, masters, or doctorate program in Marriage & Family Therapy. This is a field that is dominated by white women. Currently, there are only 10 black men in the country with a doctorate in marriage and family therapy, and as bad as black families need this kind of help, the only place you can go is to a pwi for the education. I was a ” ” at Virginia Tech before I was kicked out by a bunch of racists white women who don’t not give a f**k about the black community. Please add Marriage and Family Therapy to your roster of rare degrees earned by Black people.

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

California State University Sacramento Launches Black Honors College

Officially launching for the fall 2024 semester, the Black Honors College will support students from all backgrounds who study Black history, life, and culture by providing them with a specialized curriculum and mentoring opportunities.

Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

In Memoriam: Norman B. Anderson, 1955-2024

Dr. Anderson was the assistant vice president for research and academic affairs at Florida State University at the time of his death. He had an extensive career in clinical psychology, which led him to become the first African American chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association.

Georgia State University Launches Program to Support Black Women in Tech

While Black women account for roughly 29 percent of the Georgia State University undergradaute student body, they represent only 10 percent of the university's computer science majors and 18 percent of the computer information systems majors.

Featured Jobs