Figure 44 



Bachelor's and First Professional Degrees 



in Science and Engineering, 1959-60 to 1970-71 



Number of degrees awarded 



Physical sciences 



_J \ L 



(Percent) 

 34 — 



32- 



28- 

 16 — 

 14- 

 12 — 

 10 — 

 8 . 

 B" 

 4 «■ 

 2 — 



As percent of all bachelor's degrees 



All science and ensineefing fields 



Social sciences 



%^ Engineering 



I 

 I 



Life sciences 



Mathematical sciences 



J \ \ L 



Physical sciences 



J \ i L 



1959- 60- 61- 62 63 64- 65- 66- 67- 68- 69- 70 

 60 51 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 



Academic year 



SOURCE U S Office of Educalio 



Annual awards of master's decrees in science 

 and engineering are shown in figure 45. The 

 number of these degrees awarded annually in- 

 creased by a factor of 2.5 during the period, with 

 the largest increases occurring in the mathe- 

 matical (3.8) and social (3.1) sciences and the 

 smallest in the physical sciences (1.9). As a frac- 

 tion of master's degrees in all fields, sciences and 

 engineering degrees declined from a high of 30 

 percent in l'3e>4-o5 to 22 percent in 1970-71. The 

 largest proportional declines were in engi- 

 neering and the physical and life sciences. This 

 may indicate that relatively fewer persons were 

 seeking advanced degrees in these fields, or that 

 there is a trend toward working directly for the 

 Ph.D. 



Annual awards of Ph.D. degrees are presented 

 in figure 4t>. The greatest growth occurred in 

 engineering, which inreased by a factor of 4.6, 

 and in the mathematical sciences (4.4), both of 

 which exceeded the 3.0 increase for total Ph.D. 

 degrees in science and engineering. The life and 

 social sciences increased by factors of 2.9, and 

 the physical sciences by 2.4. As a percentage of 

 Ph.D. degrees in all fields, the annual recipients 

 of dcictorate degrees in the sciences and engi- 

 neering declined from a high of t>Z percent in the 

 mid-19d0's to 58 percent in 1O70-71 . The largest 

 proportional declines were in the physical 

 sciences. 



The rapid growth of recipients of science and 

 engineering degrees is not a development 

 specific to science. Even in the case of the Ph.D. 

 degree, where the growth rate was greatest, the 

 ratio of science to nonscience Ph.D.'s has re- 

 mained almost constant since the early 1920's. 

 Furthermore, the rapid growth rate is not solely 

 a matter of advanced education. A large part of 

 our modern 20th-century society exhibits the 

 same rapid growth; this appears in such areas as 

 the annual production of books, telephones in 

 use, production of electronic systems, consump- 

 tion of electricity, and use of raw materials. 



While grciwth rates in science and engi- 

 neering degrees granted during the 1960's were 

 substantial, they at most kept pace with degrees 

 granted in other fields. Actually, first degrees in 

 natural science and engineering — and nearly all 

 advanced science and engineering 

 degrees — grew more slowly than degrees in all 

 other fields combined. The relative decline has 

 been most pronounced for first and master's 

 degrees in engineering and for doctorates in the 

 physical sciences. Taken as a whole, these indi- 

 cators point to a relative decline in students 



56 



