CRA Bulletin

Updated trend data from both the Taulbee Survey and from the National Science Foundation are now available on the CRA website. The two sources complement each other: Taulbee data are more current and focused on CS/CE (the NSF groups information science with computer science), while NSF data provide longer trends, an opportunity to compare CS/CE with other fields, and include all degree-granting institutions. What follows is a summary of some of the information that you can find on the website. It focuses on the relative popularity of CS and trends in degree production by gender, ethnicity and citizenship. Basic employment information about doctorate recipients also is touched upon.

Bachelor’s Degrees

The most recent data reported by the NSF are from 2004, when degree production peaked. Between 1998 and 2004, the number of degrees awarded more than doubled, to over 57,000. Likewise, CS’ share of all undergraduate degrees granted rose from about 2% to 4%. Interestingly, this equals the share enjoyed by CS during the boom in production in the early 1980s. When NSF data appear for the period 2004 through 2006, it is likely to reflect the Taulbee Survey’s findings that production dropped significantly (28% among Taulbee’s PhD-granting departments). See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/bs.html and http://www.cra.org/CRN/articles/march07/vegso.html

Between 1984 and 2004, the share of CS bachelor’s degrees awarded to women fell from 37% to 25%. Taulbee data from 2005 and 2006 suggest that upcoming NSF studies will report that the share of degrees granted to women continued to fall in those years. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/bs.gender.html and http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/women.html

Since 1991, the biggest trend in the ethnic background of US citizens who received bachelor’s degrees in CS has been a fall in the share of degrees granted to non-Hispanic Whites. In 2004, whites received 64% of CS bachelor’s degrees, down from 77% in 1991. Small gains were made by other groups, particularly Asian/Pacific Islanders, who saw their representation grow from 9% to 17% by 2001. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/bs.ethnicity.html

Regarding citizenship of undergraduate degree recipients, the NSF reported that only 8% of degrees in CS were awarded to foreigners. This percentage has not changed significantly since 1991. See: http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/bs.citizenship.html

Master’s Degrees

As with bachelor’s degree information, the NSF’s most recent data ends in 2004. As a result, it does not reflect the decline that the Taulbee Survey has found for the years since then. What they do show is that production nearly doubled between 1997 and 2004, to 19,853. During this build-up, CS reached its highest share of all degrees granted: 3.8% in 2003. As was the case at the undergraduate level, however, the popularity of CS dropped slightly in 2004. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/ms.html

Although the number of master’s degrees granted to women continued to grow over the years, they did not grow faster than the number granted to men between the early 1980s and the late 1990s. As a result, the share of master’s degrees granted to women during that period hovered between 25% and 30%. It climbed to 33% between 2000 and 2002, before declining to 31% in 2004. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/ms.gender.html and http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/women.html

As at the bachelor’s degrees level, the share of master’s degrees granted to whites among U.S. citizens has fallen over the past several years. In 1994, 76% of master’s degrees in CS were granted to whites. In 2004, they received 60%. Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians/Alaskan Natives all saw their share of degrees double, though they started from a small base and none has broken 10%. The share of degrees granted to Asians also grew, from 17% in 1994 to 27% in 2000. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/ms.ethnicity.html

Unlike at the undergraduate level, a far higher large portion of master’s degrees are granted to foreigners. In 2004, temporary visa holders received 44% of CS master’s degrees. This number has been relatively stable since 2000, and was 30% in 1991. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/ms.citizenship.html

Doctoral Degrees

The NSF has released data on doctorates up to 2005. Between 2002 and 2005, CS doctoral degrees granted increased 40%, to 1,136. During this period, CS enjoyed the fastest growth rate among all science and engineering (S&E) fields. In addition, it reached its highest share of PhDs awarded among both S&E fields (4%) and all fields (2.6%). Taulbee Survey data from 2006 suggest that the NSF will find that CS doctoral production will surge another 25% that year. However, declines in the number of students passing qualifiers, new students and total enrollments all indicate that PhD production should peak in the next few years. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/phd.html

The share of CS doctoral degrees awarded to women has increased slowly over time. Nevertheless, between 2002 and 2005 the figure hovered at little over 20%. It is difficult to see how significant growth in women’s share of CS doctorates can be achieved without improvements at the undergraduate and master’s levels. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/phd.gender.html and http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/women.html

In contrast to the declining share of bachelor’s and master’s degrees granted to whites, a relatively consistent 70% to 75% of doctorates were granted to them between 1993 and 2005. The share granted to Asians varied between 15% and 20%, while blacks, Hispanics and American Indians each received less than 5% of degrees. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/phd.ethnicity.html and http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/ethnicity.html

The biggest trend in the citizenship of doctorate recipients in the past decade has been the growth in the portion granted to non-US citizens on temporary visas. Between 1993 and 2005, about 50% to 53% of doctorates were foreigners. This figure increased in 2004 and 2005, to slightly over 60%. The growth of temporary visa holders among these doctorate recipients has been steady. In 1994, 75% of non-US citizens held temporary visas. This had risen to 90% in 2005. Taulbee Survey responses for enrollments suggest that these figures are unlikely to change significantly in the next few years. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/phd.citizenship.html and http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/ethnicity.html

The Taulbee Survey also collects information on what doctorate recipients were doing the first year after they received their degrees. One way the results can be grouped is into the categories of academia (with most working in PhD-granting departments), non-academia (most in industry, and single-digit portions in government or self-employed), and work outside the US and Canada. Between 1985 and 1990, more doctorates worked in academia (50%) than outside it (40%). After this, however, employment in industry dominated, rising to nearly 60% in 1997. Since 2001, however, there have been two dramatic reversals. Between 2001 and 2003, the share of doctorates going into academia jumped from 44% to 64%, with a concomitant drop in the share working in industry from 52% to 32%. As the fortunes of the IT industry recovered, so did doctoral employment in the sector. By 2006, industry claimed 54% of doctorates while academia had slipped to 33%. During all of this, the share of doctorates working outside the US and Canada varied between 10% and 18% from the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s, and then dropped to about 5% until 2004. Since then, the share working abroad has returned to 13%. See http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/employment.html