College gender gap widens: 57% are women

Screen 29 of 31

"There's been a drop in the white college age population," Burrelli said. "But the people who are doctorate recipients have been in school for seven to 10 years, so [the percentage of men earning Ph.D.s] is going up now."

Burrelli said although the numbers of men awarded doctorates decreased, not all male groups are on the decline.

"It's the predominantly white males that have dropped," she said. "For the most part, minority males [awarded doctorates] have continued to go up."

Nearly 19% of American doctorates were awarded to minority groups in 2002, the largest percentage in history; 40% of the doctorates awarded to African American students were in education, while 1/3 of all doctorates earned by Asian Americans was in life sciences.

Burrelli said NSF was still collecting data for 2003, but that the drop in men enrolled in graduate programs has leveled out, as opposed to decreases in the past decade.

Maresi Nerad, faculty at the University of Washington, director of The Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education and associate dean for research at University of Wisconsin graduate schools, believes the results showcase a different trend entirely.

"In actuality, numbers of women Ph.D.s have increased," Nerad said. "Federal agencies have been very good to increase participation in women to earn their doctorates."