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Drop in Black Share of Physical Science, Engineering Degrees

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November 24, 2015

A new study has found that in a recent 10-year period while there has been an increase in the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in the physical sciences and engineering, the share of such degrees awarded to black students has fallen, as other groups are seeing larger increases. The study, by the American Institute of Physics Statistical Research Center, found that from 2003 to 2013, the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in the physical sciences to all students increased by 53 percent, while the number of degree awarded to black students increased by 39 percent. Particularly notable in this category is that while the number of physics degrees awarded increased by 58 percent, the number awarded to black students increased by only 1 percent.

In engineering, the total number of bachelor's degrees awarded increased by 29 percent, while the number awarded to black students increased by 10 percent.

Scott Jaschik

Scott Jaschik, Editor, is one of the three founders of Inside Higher Ed. With Doug Lederman, he leads the editorial operations of Inside Higher Ed, overseeing news content, opinion pieces, career advice, blogs and other features. Scott is a leading voice on higher education issues, quoted regularly in publications nationwide, and publishing articles on colleges in publications such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Salon, and elsewhere. He has been a judge or screener for the National Magazine Awards, the Online Journalism Awards, the Folio Editorial Excellence Awards, and the Education Writers Association Awards. Scott served as a mentor in the community college fellowship program of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, of Teachers College, Columbia University. He is a member of the board of the Education Writers Association. From 1999-2003, Scott was editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Scott grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and graduated from Cornell University in 1985. He lives in Washington.