Sunday, September 15, 2013

In Case You Were Wondering.

Inspired by the survey of "Mathematical Sciences in 2025" released recently by the National Academies Press, I decided to do a little bit of digging about the state of the gender balance in mathematics. And, for those of you who were curious, from 2010 data we have the following breakdown:


Bachelor's In Mathematics
Total Degrees Awarded: 23,438
Male: 57%
Female: 43%


Master's In Mathematics
Total Degrees Awarded: 4,265
Male: 60%
Female: 40%


Doctorate In Mathematics
Total Degrees Awarded: 1,632
Male: 69%
Female: 31%

Women are reaching a nearly equal footing to men in their numbers as undergraduate math majors, but there is a pretty extreme downturn when it comes to doctorate degrees in mathematics. So lean in, my biddies.

Interestingly, and perhaps deserving of more attention, is the scarcity of certain racial/ethnic minority groups receiving doctorates in mathematics. For example, the AMS's Annual Survey reports that of the 1,798 new doctorates in 2012, only a scant 45 of those were mathematicians who identified as Black/African American. To be clear, that's not 45%, that's the actual number 45, which is quite small.

Especially if you look at it 3-adically.

<3

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