American research universities awarded fewer doctorates to Ph.D. candidates in 2001, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported Monday. The number of doctorates at the University, however, has remained stable.
Nationally, there were 40,744 doctorate degrees conferred in 2001, a drop of 4.5 percent from the high of 42,654 in 1998. But at the University, 321 doctoral candidates received their degree in the 2001-2002 school year, which is not a significant aberration from the past 10 years. In the 2000-2001 school year, for example, 316 degree candidates received their doctorates.
The doctorate degree numbers from the Office of Institutional Assessment include Doctor of Education degrees earned from the Education School.
Furthermore, for the first time in the University's history, women earned more doctorates than men in the 2001-2002 school year -- 163 women received a doctoral degree, compared with 158 men.
But the number of doctorates awarded to women at the University is not a reflection of national trends. In 2001, 22,769 university males earned doctorates nationwide, in comparison with 17,901 females.
Ann J. Lane, director of studies in women and gender, said she was "surprised but not astonished" at the higher doctoral rate for females at the University.
Only roughly 2 percent of Lane's 1968 doctoral class at Columbia University was women, Lane said.
She said she feels the increase in women's Ph.D.'s at the University demonstrates an advance for women.
"I'm happy it's happening," she said. "It's a sign the University is becoming a somewhat more inviting place."
The performance level of University graduate students, apparently higher than that of their peers nationally, is not entirely understood.
"The short answer is, I don't know," said Peter Brunjes, associate dean of graduate academic programs and research.
"The long answer is more complicated," Brunjes said. "When the economy is good, people don't go to graduate school. When the economy is falling, people tend to go back to school more. Last year was a banner year in graduate recruiting."
Whatever the reason for the static number of University doctorates, Brunjes said, graduate students certainly aren't thriving from any financial boom.
"Graduate stipends are relatively low," he said. "Part of the reason for our steady numbers is our reputation. We have really good students, and as a result, almost all of them get through school expeditiously. We have good faculty and good programs."
Beyond the graduate studies office, individual academic departments often lack the capability to analyze data on doctoral students.
History Prof. Ronald G. Dimberg, director of graduate studies in his department, for example, says he has the numbers, but not the access to information to explain them.
Dimberg said the history department conferred 18 doctorates in the 1996- 1997 school year, 20 in 1998-1999 and 16 last year.
"It is difficult from the vantage point
of the late fall of 2002 to explain why certain students elected to enter our graduate program eight or 10 years ago," he said.
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