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

Three African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to Diversity Posts in Higher Education

Terrence Mitchell was appointed executive director for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. Faye Belgrave has been named vice president and chief diversity officer at Virginia Commonwealth University and Tammy Bennett is the inaugural vice president for inclusive excellence in philanthropy at the University of Cincinnati Foundation.

Federal Government Calls on States to End Funding Disparities at Black Land-Grant Universities

The federal government sent letters to 16 governors emphasizing the over $12 billion disparity in funding between land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their non-HBCU land-grant peers in their states. Unequitable appropriated funding of the 1890 institutions in the states ranges from $172 million to $2.1 billion.

A Trio of Black Scholars in New Faculty Roles at Universities

The City College of New York has appointed Jervette R. Ward as director of the Black Studies Program. Scotti Branton is a new assistant professor of communication at the University of Arkansas, and professor Danille Taylor was appointed director of the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum.

Shaw University to Expand Its Presence to Research Triangle Park

The collaboration will secure Shaw University a dedicated office space within Frontier RTP innovation campus, located in the heart of the city's new vibrant downtown area. The space will include private offices and an administrative area dedicated to Shaw University, as well as classroom space.

Featured Jobs