early 1970s were women, as were 34 percent who received their PhD in the 

 in the late 1990s. Figure 2 shows that women working at 2 and 4-year 

 colleges in 1999 have the greatest participation in life sciences. Nineteen 

 percent of life sciences faculty at a 2 or 4-year college in 1999 who 

 received their PhD in the early 1970s were women, as were 44 percent who 

 received their PhD in the late 1990s. However, data show that women still 

 constitute a relatively small share of faculty in the sciences. For example, 

 engineering has the lowest participation levels for women faculty. Less 

 than 1 percent of engineering faculty at a 2 or 4-year college in 1999 who 

 received their PhD in the early 1970s were women, as were 19 percent who 

 received their PhD in the late 1990s. 



Figure 2: Percentage of Women Science Faculty Employed at 2- and 4-Year 

 Colleges and Universities in 1999 by Field of Study and Year of PhD Completion 



Percent 

 50 



45 



40 



35 



30 



25 



20 



15 



10 



5 







19 



34 



23 



14 



22 



10 



1970 to 1974 



1975 to 1979 



1980 to 1984 



1 985 to 1 989 1 990 to 1 994 1 995 to 1 999 



Life and related sciences 



Computer and math sciences 

 [■.■i:^C"'.1 Physical and related sciences 

 ^^^H Engineering 

 Source: NSF Survey of Doctorate Recipients- 



Note: The estimates shown in this figure are based on sample data and subject to sampling error. 

 For fields other than computer and math sciences, the 95 percent confidence intervals are within plus 

 or minus 10 percentage points of the estimates. For computer and math sciences the 95 percent 

 confidence intervals are within plus or minus 1 7 percentage points of the estimates. 



Page 15 



GAO-04-639 Gender Issues 



