Two Decades of Increasing Diversity More than Doubled the Number of Minority Graduate Students in Science and Engineering. InfoBrief. NSF 11-319
Author: Einaudi, Peter
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: STEM Education,Science Education,Engineering Education,Enrollment Trends,Minority Group Students,Graduate Students,American Indians,Alaska Natives,Pacific Islanders,African American Students,Hispanic American Students,Disproportionate Representation,Doctoral Degrees,Engineering,Enrollment

From 1989 through 2009 the number of minority U.S. citizens and permanent residents enrolled in graduate science and engineering (S&amp;E) programs more than doubled, growing from approximately 37,700 in 1989 to 92,700 in 2009. Increases in Hispanic, black, and Asian/Pacific Islander S&amp;E graduate students were similar over this period (approximately 17,800, 18,200, and 17,200, respectively); however, these gains almost tripled the number of Hispanic graduate students (approximately 190% growth) and more than doubled the number of blacks (approximately 155% growth) and Asians/Pacific Islanders (approximately 110% growth). Enrollment among American Indians/Alaska Natives also nearly tripled, increasing from approximately 900 in 1989 to approximately 2,600 in 2009 (approximately 195% growth). Minority enrollment among U.S. citizens and permanent residents enrolled in graduate S&amp;E programs grew from approximately 13% in 1989 to approximately 24% in 2009 (figure 1). Due to extra variability of the methodological changes in the 2007 Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS), all growth rate calculations comparing pre- and post-2007 counts are rounded to the nearest 5% and counts are rounded to the nearest 100; see &quot;Data Limitations and Availability&quot; for more information. Despite these substantial gains, black and Hispanic U.S. citizens and permanent residents remain underrepresented within the S&amp;E graduate student population when compared with the adult U.S. citizen population. In 2009, 7.8% of the U.S. citizens and permanent residents pursuing graduate S&amp;E degrees were black and 7.1% were Hispanic. In 2009, 13.8% of U.S. citizens 21 to 45 years of age were black and 11.9% were Hispanic. In contrast, the percentage of American Indians/Alaska Natives in the 2009 S&amp;E graduate student population was very similar to that of the adult U.S. citizen population (0.7% vs. 0.8%), and the percentage of Asians/Pacific Islanders pursuing S&amp;E graduate degrees was more than twice that of the U.S. citizen population aged 21 to 45 years (8.6% vs. 3.8%). These and other findings in this InfoBrief are from the fall 2009 GSS, cosponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The GSS is an annual survey of all academic institutions in the U.S. that grant research-based master's degrees or doctorates in science, engineering, or selected health (SEH) fields. The GSS collects data on the number and characteristics of graduate students, postdoctoral appointees (postdocs), and other doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers in SEH fields. (Contains 2 figures, 4 tables and 5 notes.