The National Science Foundation recently released its annual data on doctoral degree recipients in the United States. The Survey of Earned Doctorates showed that for U.S. citizens and permanent residents of this country, 2,725 African Americans earned doctorates from U.S. universities in 2023. This is the highest number ever recorded.
But not all the news is good. In 2023, 890 doctoral degrees were awarded in the fields of agronomy, developmental biology, cellular biology, human genetics, biomechanics, plant pathology, zoology, biological medical engineering, structural engineering, nanotechnology, geochemistry, climatology, oceanography, medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry, astronomy, nuclear physics, elementary particle physics, theoretical and mathamatical physics, physical and biological anthropology, environmental economics, archeology, English literature, and Spanish language and literature.
None of these 890 doctorates were awarded to African Americans.
