The top 100: interpreting the data - Special report: graduate & professional degrees - minorities' education at U.S. universities

Black Issues in Higher Education, July 3, 2003 by Victor M.H. Borden, Pamela C. Brown

In this year's issue, we take a closer look at the proportionate representation of students of color among graduate and professional degrees by field of study. The results are shown separately for master's degrees (Table 1), doctoral degrees (Table 2) and first professional degrees (Table 3). In each table, degrees are categorized into broad disciplinary areas and ranked from highest to lowest in terms of the total number of degrees conferred. For example, Table 1 shows that more than half of all master's degrees conferred were in education and business, the two most popular categories. Doctoral degrees are spread more evenly among categories, although the top two categories--biological/natural sciences and mathematics; and social and behavioral sciences--account for more than one-third of all degrees. Law degrees dominate the first professional degrees accounting for almost half of the total. Medicine and the combination of all other health degrees aside from dentistry (e.g., podiatry, pharmacy, optometry, veterinary sciences, etc.) account for an additional one-third of the total.

The bottom line of each table shows the percentage of each minority racial/ethnic group that received master's, doctoral and first professional degrees, respectively. For example, African Americans were awarded 7.7 percent of all master's degrees, 5.1 percent of all doctoral degrees and 6.8 percent of all first professional degrees. The rows of each table show the percentages conferred to each minority group for the specific fields of study. Cells are highlighted in green if the racial/ethnic group earns a disproportionately high proportion relative to the grand total (i.e., 25 percent more than grand total percentage). Similarly, cells highlighted in red indicate where the racial/ethnic group receives proportionately fewer degrees (25 percent less than the grand total percentage).

For master's degrees, African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians earn relatively high proportions of degrees in public administration and service disciplines (including public administration; protective services; and parks, recreation and leisure studies). The same three groups earn a relatively low percentage of master's degrees in engineering and technology. Asian Americans, on the other hand, earn a disproportionately higher percentage of degrees in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), but earn proportionately few degrees in education and the public administration and service disciplines.

Table 2 shows that for all minority groups except Asian Americans, the percentage of doctoral degrees earned is below the percentage of earned master's degrees. The contrasts in degree distribution are even more notable across fields for doctoral degrees than for master's degrees. For example, African Americans are flagged with red or green cells for 6 of the 11 categories among master's degrees, but for 8 of the 11 categories among doctoral degrees. In addition to public administration and service fields, African Americans are also relatively overrepresented in education and the "other professions" in doctoral degree conferrals. African Americans are notably underrepresented in the health professions. The larger discrepancies in doctoral degree awards across fields of study are even more notable for Hispanics and American Indians.

The total proportion of first professional degrees awarded to African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians are closer to the total proportions for master's degrees and so higher than for doctoral degrees. African Americans are particularly overrepresented in the conferral of divinity degrees. African Americans are notably underrepresented among dentistry degree recipients.

Asian Americans earn more than double the proportion of first professional degrees compared to their representation among master's and doctoral degrees. However, they earn relatively low proportions of these degrees in divinity and law. This is compensated by the very high percentages of Asian Americans among new dentists (nearly one-quarter), and medical doctors (over one of six degrees).

This analysis reveals some notable discrepancies in the representation of African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians across fields of study. Perhaps most notable is the lower representation of these groups in doctoral degrees overall, but particularly in the STEM disciplines. One bright spot is the relatively strong representation of African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians in the professional fields of law and medicine. However, even in these fields, the proportional representation is well below the general population proportions of these racial/ethnic groups.

Although this analysis does not necessarily break any new ground in our knowledge of participation rates for students of color in graduate and professional programs, it does underscore the lower participation rates for the highest level academic degrees. Recent research by Tom Mortenson, author of the Postsecondary Education Opportunity Research Letter, and others highlights the importance of postbaccalaureate degrees for entry into the high-paying jobs. Perhaps most importantly, these degrees are often the pathways to positions in government, business and academia that help shape public policy and opinion, as well as the mind: of future leaders. Increasing the representation of students of color among postbaccalaureate degree earners may be one of the critical requirements for establishing a truly inclusive and equitable society.