Undergraduate Science Majors: Gender Differences in Who Goes to Graduate School

In the past thirty years, the number of science, math, and engineering (SME) 1 bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees awarded to women has increased by 106%, 150%, and 267%, respectively (National Science Foundation, 1995). Although the gender gap has certainly narrowed in these past decades, women have not yet achieved parity. Currently, women are underrepresented among SME degree recipients at all levels, particularly at the graduate level, earning 35% of bachelor's degrees, 26% of master's degrees, and 24% of doctoral degrees (calculated from NSF, 1999, data).