How many women are earning advanced physics degrees? How many people are from underrepresented groups? How long is it taking people to earn their degrees? The makeup of US exiting-master’s and PhD recipients over time, with an in-depth look at the classes of 2010, 2011, and 2012, are the subjects of two recent reports by the Statistical Research Center at the American Institute of Physics. An exiting master’s is someone who leaves his or her physics department after earning a master’s degree—including those who continue studies in physics elsewhere or switch to another field.
In 2012 a new high of 1762 PhDs were awarded in physics. That number is up 4% from the previous year and 62% from a recent low in 2004. The median number of physics PhDs awarded by departments went from four to six in that period. On average, PhD recipients in the classes of 2010 and...
