Figure

II-08a: Share of Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded to Women, Selected Academic Fields

Data Source and Other Information

* The “Historical Categories” are the limited set of humanities disciplines that have been tracked by the federal government since 1949. These disciplines include English language and literature, history, languages and literatures other than English (including linguistics and classical studies), and philosophy. Please see the Note on the Data Used to Calculate Humanities Degree Counts and Shares for further explanation of the differences between the two trend lines.

Source: Office of Education/U.S. Department of Education: Survey of Earned Degrees; Higher Education General Information System; and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

Related Indicators

For historical trends in levels of humanities bachelor’s degree completion, see “Bachelor’s Degrees in the Humanities.” 

For additional information on the demographics of students earning bachelor’s degrees in the humanities, see “Racial/Ethnic Representation Among Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Recipients” 

For details as to the types of humanities bachelor’s degrees awarded and the nature of the institutions from which they are received, see “Disciplinary Distribution of Bachelor’s Degrees in the Humanities” and “Institutional Distribution of Bachelor’s Degrees in the Humanities.”

For comparable information on trends at the graduate level, see “Gender Distribution of Advanced Degrees in the Humanities.”

Back to Humanities Indicators
The Humanities Indicators and Departmental Survey have been made possible in part by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Register for updates
Register for updates
Back to Humanities Indicators