The Relationship between Funding and Time to Ph.D.
- For each funding type, recent PhDs in the humanities took longer to complete their degrees than did graduates in other fields. Humanities majors who relied on personal sources of income took longest of all (with a median of 8.7 years for graduates from 2011 to 2013; Indicator II-29a). When compared to the life and physical sciences, the median time to degree in the humanities was at least a year longer for every type of funding. That difference fell to below a year in comparison to the social sciences only for graduates relying on fellowships, scholarships, and assistantships.
- Recent PhDs who relied primarily on their personal finances or an employer’s support reported the longest median time to degree in the humanities and every other broad field of study. Looking at all academic fields together, the median time to degree for 2011–2013 graduates was 7.2 years among those who relied on personal sources, as compared to 6.7 years among those who relied on either loans or support from a spouse or partner. Graduates who relied primarily on fellowships, scholarships, grants, and assistantships spent an even shorter time in their programs, with a median of 5.7 years.
- From 2002 to 2013, the median time in program for graduates relying on personal sources of support declined slightly in every field except the physical sciences (which remained essentially static; Indicator II-29b). In the humanities, the median time to degree for these students fell from 9.1 to 8.7 years, while among graduates from all fields, the median declined from 8.2 to 7.2 years.
- When time spent on coursework and exams is separated from time spent on the dissertation, variation across fields in time to degree becomes less distinct (due in part to the way the SED asks students to report this information; for details, see “About the Data” for Indicator II-29c), but the data do reveal that, from 2011 to 2013, humanities and social sciences graduates had a median time of four years in the coursework/exam stage, regardless of the source of support, while graduates in the life and physical sciences had a median of two years.
- Among PhDs graduating 2011–2013 who relied on personal sources of support, humanities graduates spent more time in the coursework/exam stage (five years, as opposed to four for graduates in other fields). Among PhDs who had relied primarily on fellowships, scholarships, grants, and assistantships, humanities doctorate holders also took longer than students in other fields. Only in the case of students financing their education with loans did students in another field, social sciences, spend longer in the coursework/exam stage of their doctoral program.
- At the dissertation-writing stage, almost no difference was observed among the fields on time to completion, with a median of three years for almost every field and source of support from 2011 to 2013 (Indicator II-29d). The only exceptions were among those who relied primarily on loans (where the graduates in the life and social sciences had a median of two years) and among those who relied on support from a spouse, partner, or family (where social science graduates had a median of two years).
- Among the individual humanities disciplines, the time spent at each stage of doctoral study fell within a year of the median for all funding types among 2011–2013 graduates (Indicator II-29e). PhDs in history stand out for having among the shortest median times at the coursework/exam stage for every type of financial support except one—personal/employer resources. In contrast, graduates in languages other than English had among the longest median times at this stage for three out of five types of support.
- Only history PhDs reported a median time in the dissertation stage of four years for all funding types (except Other; Indicator II-29f). The median time for all other humanities disciplines was three years for most funding types. The exceptions were philosophy students who relied primarily on loans and students in philosophy or languages other than English who relied primarily on personal or family support, each of whom had a median overall time of four years.
* Time in doctoral program is measured as the difference between the month and year the doctorate was granted and the month and year the student started his or her doctoral program (or most recent master’s degree program, if the master’s was earned at the same institution as the doctorate).
** Life sciences includes agricultural sciences and natural resources; biological and biomedical sciences; and health sciences. Physical sciences includes mathematics and computer and information sciences. Social sciences includes psychology.
Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED; a custom tabulation of SED data was prepared for the Humanities Indicators by NORC at the University of Chicago).
The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) offers researchers several ways of measuring “time-to-degree.” The survey yields data on both time since completing undergraduate studies and time since first taking a graduate course. The Humanities Indicators uses as the basis of its calculation of time to degree a third type of data supplied by the SED: the date the student began studies in the program that conferred his or her doctoral degree—or master’s degree, if earned at the same institution as the doctorate (see question A8 on the 2012–2013 questionnaire). The difference between this date and the date of doctorate completion yields a measure of time to degree that is not inflated by what for some students (especially those who earn their master’s and doctoral degrees at different institutions) are lengthy pauses between degrees.
* Time in doctoral program is measured as the difference between the month and year the doctorate was granted and the month and year the student started his or her doctoral program (or most recent master’s degree program, if the master’s was earned at the same institution as the doctorate).
Life sciences includes agricultural sciences and natural resources; biological and biomedical sciences; and health sciences. Physical sciences includes mathematics and computer and information sciences. Social sciences includes psychology.
Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED; a custom tabulation of SED data was prepared for the Humanities Indicators by NORC at the University of Chicago).
The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) offers researchers several ways of measuring “time-to-degree.” The survey yields data on both time since completing undergraduate studies and time since first taking a graduate course. The Humanities Indicators uses as the basis of its calculation of time to degree a third type of data supplied by the SED: the date the student began studies in the program that conferred his or her doctoral degree—or master’s degree, if earned at the same institution as the doctorate (see question A8 on the 2012–2013 questionnaire). The difference between this date and the date of doctorate completion yields a measure of time to degree that is not inflated by what for some students (especially those who earn their master’s and doctoral degrees at different institutions) are lengthy pauses between degrees.
* The median estimated time in coursework and exams cannot be directly compared to the total median time in program used in Indicators II-29a and II-29b because the questions about time in particular stages of doctoral study are worded differently. (See “About the Data” for details.)
** Life sciences includes agricultural sciences and natural resources; biological, biomedical sciences; and health sciences. Physical sciences includes mathematics and computer and information sciences. Social sciences includes psychology.
Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED; a custom tabulation of SED data was prepared for the Humanities Indicators by NORC at the University of Chicago).
The median estimated time in coursework and exams cannot be directly compared to the total median time in program used in indicators II-29a and 29b because the questions about time in particular stages of doctoral study are worded differently. The question on coursework and exams reads “How many years were you taking courses or preparing for exams for this doctoral degree (including master’s degree if that was a part of your doctoral program)?” and asks respondents to round to whole years.
* The median estimated time in coursework and exams cannot be directly compared to the total median time in program used in Indicators II-29a and II-29b because the questions about time in particular stages of doctoral study are worded differently. (See “About the Data” for details.)
** Life sciences includes agricultural sciences and natural resources; biological and biomedical sciences; and health sciences. Physical sciences includes mathematics and computer and information sciences. Social sciences includes psychology.
Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED; a custom tabulation of SED data was prepared for the Humanities Indicators by NORC at the University of Chicago).
The median estimated time working on the dissertation cannot be directly compared to the total median time in program used in Indicators II-29a and II-29b because the questions about time in particular stages of doctoral study are worded differently. The question on the dissertation stage reads, “After coursework and exams, how many years did you work on your dissertation (non-course related preparation or research, writing, and defense)?” and asks respondents to round to whole years.
* The median estimated time in coursework and exams cannot be directly compared to the total median time in program used in Indicators II-29a and II-29b because the questions about time in particular stages of doctoral study are worded differently. (See “About the Data” for details.) “Letters” encompasses English and American languages and literatures, as well as creative writing and comparative literature.
** Differs from the “other humanities” category used in standard Survey of Earned Doctorates publications in that it excludes philosophy, religion/religious studies, and Bible/biblical studies.
Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED; a custom tabulation of SED data was prepared for the Humanities Indicators by NORC at the University of Chicago).
The median estimated time in coursework and exams cannot be directly compared to the total median time in program used in indicators II-29a and 29b because the questions about time in particular stages of doctoral study are worded differently. The question on coursework and exams reads “How many years were you taking courses or preparing for exams for this doctoral degree (including master’s degree if that was a part of your doctoral program)?” and asks respondents to round to whole years.
* The median estimated time in coursework and exams cannot be directly compared to the total median time in program used in Indicators II-29a and II-29b because the questions about time in particular stages of doctoral study are worded differently. (See “About the Data” for details.) “Letters” encompasses English and American languages and literatures, as well as creative writing and comparative literature.
** Differs from the “other humanities” category used in standard Survey of Earned Doctorates publications in that it excludes philosophy, religion/religious studies, and Bible/biblical studies.
Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED; a custom tabulation of SED data was prepared for the Humanities Indicators by NORC at the University of Chicago).
The median estimated time working on the dissertation cannot be directly compared to the total median time in program used in Indicators II-29a and II-29b because the questions about time in particular stages of doctoral study are worded differently. The question on the dissertation stage reads, “After coursework and exams, how many years did you work on your dissertation (non-course related preparation or research, writing, and defense)?” and asks respondents to round to whole years.
