Graduate Student Diversity Data
Gender Diversity in Graduate Students
As reported in the 2022-23 annual reports.
Figure 1: This bar graph shows the gender distribution for graduate students as reported by ACS approved programs in their 2022-23 annual reports. Programs were asked to report the current number of students in the first year class, enrolled in the program, and the number that received degrees, including both master's degrees and doctoral degrees. A more complete description of the information in the bar graph is noted under results.
Distribution of ACS Approved Institutions
Currently there are 378 institutions where the highest degree conferred is the bachelor's degree. An additional 108 offer a terminal Master's, while the doctoral degree is offered by 204 institutions. Of the 312 institutions that offer graduate degrees, 261 provided data (84%).
Results
261 ACS approved institutions reported on the gender diversity of students in their graduate program. This represented 87% of the ACS approved institutions that offer graduate degrees.
The gender diversity for all students enrolled as graduate students showed that 54.2% of students identify as male, 45.5% as female, and 0.3% as non-binary.
For first year students, the distribution shows a slightly larger number of students that identify as female. Here 50.3% of students are male, 48.8% are female, and 1.0% identify as nonbinary.
As we move to degree recipients, there were approximately 2700 doctoral degrees from 168 programs conferred in 2023, 56.5% to males, 43.4% to females, and 0.2% to non-binary folks.
For Master's degrees conferred in 2022-23, 26.1% of degree recipients were from terminal Master's programs, i.e. those from institutions whose highest degree is a Master's. 46.4% were male, 53.1% were female, and 0.2% were non-binary. This represented 76 ACS approved programs.
73.9% of the recipients of Master's degrees were from Ph.D. granting institutions (noted as other). 50.0% identify as male, 49.7% identify as female, and 0.2% as non-binary. These degrees may either be terminal or a requirement on the way to the Ph.D. Of the 168 doctoral granting institutions, 150 also conferred Master's degrees.
Race & Ethnicity Data for Graduate Students
Data are from the 2022-23 annual reports from ACS approved institutions.
Figure 2: Bar graph that shows the race and ethnicity distribution of 5 different cohorts of graduate students: (1) the entire cohort of enrolled graduate students; (2) the first year class in 2022-23; (3) graduate students that earned a Master's degree from an institution where the Master's is the terminal degree; (4) graduate students that earned a Master's degree from an institution where the Ph.D. is the terminal degree; and (5) graduate students the earned a Ph.D. during the 2022-23 academic year. A more comprehensive description of the data can be found under results.
Results
Data were self-reported in the 2023 annual reports from ACS approved institutions. Not all programs were able to provide data on race and ethnicity due to internal data restrictions.
Full-Time Students
54.9% of students are white, non-Hispanic;
5.5% Black or African American;
10.2% Latinx/Hispanic;
15.2% Asian American;
0.5% Native American/Indigenous;
0.5% Pacific Islander,
2.9% were more than 2 races/ethnicities; and
10.3% were unknown.
First Year Students
52.1% of students are white, non-Hispanic;
7.1% Black or African American;
10.0% Latinx/Hispanic;
15.8% Asian American;
0.6% Native American/Indigenous;
0.5% Pacific Islander,
3.6% were more than 2 races/ethnicities; and
10.3% were unknown.
Doctoral Degrees
58.0% of students are white, non-Hispanic;
3.3% Black or African American;
9.1% Latinx/Hispanic;
15.2% Asian American;
0.6% are Native American/Indigenous;
0.3% Pacific Islander,
2.4% were more than 2 races/ethnicities; and
11.0% were unknown.
Terminal Master's Degree
Terminal Master's:
55.0% of students are white, non-Hispanic;
11.0% Black or African American;
12.5% Latinx/Hispanic;
10.5% Asian American;
0.3% Native American/Indigenous;
4.0% Pacific Islander,
2.5% were more than 2 races/ethnicities; and
4.2% were unknown.
Other Master's Degree
Other Master's Degrees:
51.6% of students are white, non-Hispanic;
5.5% Black or African American;
10.2% Latinx/Hispanic;
14.0% Asian American;
0.8% are Native American/Indigenous;
0.4% Pacific Islander,
3.7% were more than 2 races/ethnicities; and
13.9% were unknown.