Data Spotlight: Degrees Awarded & Gender Gap

Women outnumbered men at every degree award level in New York State, according to the most recent data available. Women earned 60 percent of all degrees awarded.

The Office's 2001-02 information on degrees awarded and women graduates is summarized in the tables that follow, but here are a few highlights:

Overall, business management, education, and the health professions topped the list of program areas, accounting for a third of associate's and bachelor's degrees and 60 percent of master's.

women took home 51-67 percent of undergraduate business management degrees
men earned 62 percent of master's in business management
women earned 73-85 percent of all degrees in education and the health professions

Women earned 73 percent of doctorates in psychology, 78 percent of MPA's, 79 percent of master's education degrees, and 57-65percent of undergraduate liberal arts degrees.

in contrast, almost all degrees in engineering and engineering technology and 59 percent of law degrees went to men
women earned 38 percent of associate's degrees in computer and information science

In addition, 29 percent of women receiving associate's degrees earned liberal arts degrees and 23 percent business management degrees, yet just 5 percent and 14 percent of women at the bachelor's levels, respectively, earned degrees in those areas.

Degrees Awarded in NYS Top Program Areas & Women Graduates, 2001-02
Program Share of All Degrees	Program	Women's Share of Program Graduates	% All Women Grads at Degree Level
Associate's (53,103)
27%	Liberal Arts	65%	29%
21%	Business Management	67%	23%
12%	Health Professions	85%	17%
7%	Computer/Information Science	38%	4%
6%	Engineering Technologies	14%	1%
27%	All Other Programs	59%	26%
100%	All	61%	100%
Program Share of All Degrees	Program	Women's Share of Program Graduates	% All Women Grads at Degree Level
Bachelor's (102,355)
17%	Business Management	51%	14%
12%	Social Sciences/History	56%	11%
9%	Education	77%	11%
6%	Health Professions	83%	8%
6%	Liberal Arts	57%	5%
50%	All Other Programs	57%	51%
100%	All	59%	100%
Program Share of All Degrees	Program	Women's Share of Program Graduates	% All Women Grads at Degree Level
Master's (51,138)
33%	Education	79%	42%
18%	Business Management	38%	11%
8%	Health Professions	80%	10%
8%	Public Administration	78%	9%
5%	Visual & Performing Arts	62%	5%
28%	All Other Programs	51%	23%
100%	All	63%	100%
Program Share of All Degrees	Program	Women's Share of Program Graduates	% All Women Grads at Degree Level
Doctoral (3,459)
15%	Psychology	73%	21%
13%	Social Sciences/History	47%	12%
12%	Biology	51%	12%
11%	Education	73%	16%
8%	Engineering	14%	2%
41%	All Other Programs	48%	37%
100%	All	52%	100%
Program Share of All Degrees	Program	Women's Share of Program Graduates	% All Women Grads at Degree Level
First-Professional (8,398)
58%	Law	41%	58%
39%	Health Professions	80%	39%
3%	Theology	51%	3%
100%	All	63%	100%

Source: Data -- IPEDS-C Completions Survey, National Center for Education Statistics
Table -- Office of Higher Education

For data, information, and analysis related to the quality and status of higher education in New York State, contact OHE's Office of Research and Information Systems at orisweb@mail.nysed.gov, (518) 474-5091, or fax (518) 474-1907.

Next article: HIGHlights (brief items)