Growth From Abroad: Women in U.S. Science and Engineering Graduate Programs, 2004–2013

• In Event: 30.051 - STEM in Graduate Education

Abstract

In the study of science and engineering graduate education in the U.S., two themes that have received extensive attention individually are the persisting underrepresentation of women and the significant growth in enrollment among foreign nationals. Using data from a census of U.S. science and engineering graduate programs, this paper examines a population at the intersection of these two groups: foreign national women. Over the 10-year time frame examined, the growth in enrollment among foreign national women (38%) outpaced that of both foreign national men (23%) and U.S. citizen women (6%). Notably, in some of the fields with the largest increases in international women (e.g., Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Economics), there were in fact declines in enrollment among U.S. women.

Authors

• Christopher Bennett, Vanderbilt University

• Caren Arbeit, RTI International