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2 Highlights Choices to Leave Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Studies of why women and men leave science, mathematics, and engineering at the undergraduate level identify similar reasons, although the relative importance of particular factors varies by gender. For women the most important issue was the choice of field (women believed their reasons for choosing the field were inappropriate) while for men the top issue dealt with the educational environment (perceptions of poor teaching). Men more often chose science, mathematics, and engineering majors out of intrinsic interest or for pragmatic reasons; women showed concern that their education, career goals, and personal priorities fit together. Graduate Education In 1992, 35 percent of graduate students enrolled in science and engineering fields were women, up from less than 31 percent in 1981. In science fields, women comprised 43 percent of the total number of graduate students; in engineering, about 15 percent. Within science fields, women were a substantial majority of graduate enrollments in psychology (over two-thirds) and more than half the total in biometry/epidemiology, genetics, nutrition, and several social science fields (anthropology, linguistics, and sociology). Achievement and Accomplishments Elementary/Secondary Education Since 1973, there has not been a gap in the mathematics proficiency scores of boys and girls at ages 9 and 13, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests. Since 1986, a slight gap between the scores of 17-year-old boys and girls has virtually disappeared. In science proficiency, the 1990 average score of 9-year-old girls and boys was virtually the same. A gap between girls' and boys' scores appears at age 13 and becomes larger by age 17; these gaps have persisted since the 1970's and are found primarily at the highest levels of science proficiency. Transition to Higher Education On the mathematics component of the SAT, scores for both sexes have increased since 1983. Nevertheless, in 1993, females continued to score considerably below males in mathematics, although the gap is narrowing slightly. Females' scores increased 12 points to 457 in 1993, while males' scores increased 9 points to 502. Undergraduate Education Grades Women tend to graduate from college with higher grades than men, regardless of their major field of study. Fifty-nine percent of women compared with 47 percent of men receiving bachelor's degrees in 1991 had a grade point average of B or better. The pattern of higher grades for women prevailed in science and engineering as well; in engineering, for example, 63 percent of women compared with 49 percent of men had a grade point average of B or better. Bachelor's Degrees Women earned a smaller proportion of total science and engineering degrees (44 percent in 1991) than they did non-science and engineering degrees (54 percent). Women have earned the majority of degrees in all fields combined since 1982. • For science as a whole (excluding engineering), women earned 50 percent of the bachelor's degrees in 1991. Within the sciences, the field with the highest share of bachelor's degrees awarded to women was psychology (73 percent) Women also earned more than half the baccalaureates in biological sciences (51 percent). • Engineering continued to be one of the least popular fields for women; in 1991, they earned 15 percent of all baccalaureates in engineering. Master's Degrees Women have earned more than half of the master's degrees in non-science and engineering fields since 1975. Both the number and the proportion of women earning master's degrees in science and engineering fields have risen steadily, increasing in the last 10 years to 36 percent of the total. By 1991, women had increased their share of master's degrees in science fields to 45 percent, up from 37 percent a decade earlier. Women remained underrepresented in engineering, although the percentage of master's degrees earned by women increased from 8 to 14 percent. Doctorates Women earned 29 percent of the science and engineering doctorates awarded in 1992, up from 24 percent of the total in 1982. Their proportions varied considerably by field: 59 percent in psychology; 38 percent in biological sciences; 35 percent in social sciences; 19 percent in mathematical sciences; 14 percent in computer science; and 9 percent in engineering.
