Gender Distribution of Degrees in Languages and Literatures Other than English
- The percentage of female bachelor’s recipients in LOTE remained in the 70–75% range from 1966 to 2014 (Indicator II-48a).
- The share of female master’s degree recipients increased from 58% in 1966 to 71% in 1987, and it remained near that level for most of the subsequent 27 years.
- The share of LOTE doctorates awarded to women saw a steeper increase than the percentage of bachelor’s and master’s degrees awarded to women in the discipline. After hovering at about 30% in the late 1960s, women’s share of LOTE Ph.D.’s grew steadily, with gender parity achieved in 1977. Since 2000, the share of women receiving LOTE doctorates has hovered in the 60–64% range.
* The gaps in the trend lines indicate a shift from the National Science Foundation’s disciplinary classification system to the National Center for Education Statistics’ Classification of Instructional Programs. Please see the Note on the Data Used to Calculate the Number of Degree Completions in English Language and Literature and in Languages and Literatures Other than English for an explanation of the differences between the two systems that are most pertinent to this indicator. Degree counts do not include second majors.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Data System; accessed via the National Science Foundation’s online integrated science and engineering resources data system, WebCASPAR.
See the Note on Data Used to Calculate Discipline-Specific Degree Counts and Shares, the Note on the Data Used to Calculate the Number of Degree Completions in English Language and Literature and in Languages and Literatures Other than English, and the Note on the Definition of Advanced Degrees. The percentages do not include so-called double major degrees. When degrees are earned concurrently in this way, only the first degree is counted.
