Women earned 58.5% of all US bachelor’s degrees in 2021-22 but only 38.8% of STEM bachelor’s degrees, and just 22.6% in computer and information sciences (NCES, Digest of Education Statistics Tables 318.30 and 318.45). The gap is not about finishing: among students who started college in STEM, 57% of women and 53% of men completed a STEM degree (National Science Board, Indicators 2026). It is about where students start and which fields they pick, which is why the same NCES tables show women earning 66.2% of biology degrees and 84.9% of health degrees. At the top of the pipeline, women earned 45% of science and engineering doctorates in 2024, up from 39% in 2004 (NCSES, Survey of Earned Doctorates). For the dropout side of this story, see our STEM degree attrition statistics. We aggregated data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, the National Science Board, the Computing Research Association, the World Bank, UNESCO, and Pew Research Center.
TL;DR
- Women earned 38.9% of US STEM bachelor’s degrees in 2022-23, up from 35.0% in 2012-13 (NCES, Digest Table 318.45).
- Women’s STEM bachelor’s degrees grew 58.7% in a decade versus 34.6% for men (NCES, Digest Table 318.45, 2012-13 to 2022-23).
- 14.3% of women’s bachelor’s degrees were in STEM versus 31.9% of men’s (NCES, Digest Tables 318.30 and 318.45, 2021-22).
- Women earned 22.6% of computer science and 24.0% of engineering bachelor’s degrees (NCES, Digest Table 318.30, 2021-22).
- Women’s share of computer science bachelor’s degrees peaked at 36.8% in 1984-85 (NCES, Digest Table 325.35).
- Women earned 16.1% of computer engineering bachelor’s degrees at PhD-granting departments (CRA Taulbee Survey 2024).
- 57% of women vs 53% of men who started in STEM completed a STEM degree (National Science Board, Indicators 2026).
- Women earned 45% of S&E doctorates in 2024, up from 39% in 2004 (NCSES, SED 2024).
- Female S&E doctorate recipients rose 89% from 2004 to 2024, versus 49% for men (NCSES, SED 2024).
- Black graduates came closest to parity: women earned 47.3% of STEM bachelor’s degrees to Black students (NCES, Digest Table 318.45, 2022-23).
- Women were 38.48% of US tertiary STEM graduates in 2023, up from 33.39% in 2015 (World Bank WDI).
- Women make up only 35% of STEM graduates worldwide (UNESCO).
- Men held 73% of US science and engineering occupations in 2023 (National Science Board, Indicators 2026).
1. The Headline Gap: STEM Degrees by Level
The core paradox is that women dominate higher education overall and still trail in STEM at every degree level. Women earned 38.9% of STEM bachelor’s degrees in 2022-23, 37.0% of STEM master’s degrees and 36.7% of STEM doctor’s degrees (NCES, Digest Table 318.45), against 59% of all bachelor’s, 63% of all master’s and 57% of all doctor’s degrees (NCES, Condition of Education, Undergraduate Degree Fields and Graduate Degree Fields).
The trend line is moving in women’s favor, but slowly. Female STEM bachelor’s degrees rose from 105,997 to 168,264 between 2012-13 and 2022-23, an increase of 58.7% (168,264 / 105,997 = 1.587), while men’s rose 34.6% (264,341 / 196,343 = 1.346). That growth gap moved the female share only four percentage points in ten years. The weakest level is the associate’s degree, where women earned 28.8% of STEM awards (23,809 / 82,716), the mirror image of their 63% share of all associate’s degrees.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s share of STEM bachelor’s degrees, 2022-23 | 38.9% (168,264 of 432,605) | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of STEM bachelor’s degrees, 2012-13 | 35.0% (105,997 of 302,340) | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of STEM master’s degrees | 37.0% in 2022-23, 31.5% in 2012-13 | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of STEM doctor’s degrees | 36.7% in 2022-23 (11,943 of 32,536), 34.5% in 2012-13 | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of STEM associate’s degrees, 2022-23 | 28.8% (23,809 of 82,716) | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Growth in STEM bachelor’s degrees, 2012-13 to 2022-23 | Women +58.7%, men +34.6% | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of all bachelor’s degrees, 2021-22 | 59% (1,179,700 degrees) | NCES, Condition of Education 2024 |
| Women’s share of all master’s / doctor’s degrees, 2021-22 | 63% / 57% | NCES, Condition of Education 2024 |
Context note: NCES defines STEM as biological and biomedical sciences, computer and information sciences, engineering and engineering technologies, mathematics and statistics, and physical sciences. Health professions and psychology are excluded, which is why the female share looks so different from definitions that include them (see Section 2).
2. The Field Divide: Where the Gap Actually Lives
“STEM” averages two opposite stories. Women earned 22.6% of computer and information sciences bachelor’s degrees and 24.0% of engineering and engineering technologies degrees in 2021-22, but 66.2% of biological and biomedical sciences degrees (NCES, Digest Table 318.30). Mathematics (41.0%) and the physical sciences (45.4%) sit in the middle. Add psychology (80.1%) and health professions (84.9%) and the picture flips entirely.
The more useful number is what each sex chooses. Of women’s 1,179,719 bachelor’s degrees in 2021-22, 169,049 were in STEM, or 14.3%; of men’s 835,316, 266,434 were, or 31.9% (NCES, Tables 318.30 and 318.45). Men were 2.2 times as likely as women to graduate with a STEM bachelor’s (31.9 / 14.3). Closing the gap in computing and engineering would require shifting choices made before college, not rescuing students who drop out.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Computer and information sciences, bachelor’s | 22.6% women (24,542 of 108,503) | NCES, Digest Table 318.30 (2021-22) |
| Engineering and engineering technologies, bachelor’s | 24.0% women (33,884 of 141,422) | NCES, Digest Table 318.30 (2021-22) |
| Mathematics and statistics, bachelor’s | 41.0% women (10,753 of 26,212) | NCES, Digest Table 318.30 (2021-22) |
| Physical sciences and science technologies, bachelor’s | 45.4% women (12,851 of 28,301) | NCES, Digest Table 318.30 (2021-22) |
| Biological and biomedical sciences, bachelor’s | 66.2% women (87,065 of 131,462) | NCES, Digest Table 318.30 (2021-22) |
| Psychology / health professions, bachelor’s | 80.1% / 84.9% women | NCES, Digest Table 318.30 (2021-22) |
| STEM share of each sex’s bachelor’s degrees | Women 14.3%, men 31.9% | NCES, Digest Tables 318.30 and 318.45 (2021-22) |
| Women’s share of STEM degrees when health is included, 2018 | 53% | Pew Research Center, 2021 |
Context note: Pew Research Center’s broader definition, which includes health-related fields, put women at 53% of STEM college degrees in 2018, versus 58% of all degrees, and found women earned just 22% of engineering and 19% of computer science bachelor’s degrees that year (Pew Research Center, STEM jobs see uneven progress, 2021). Pew data are from 2018; most recent available data from Pew is that report. Our broader women in STEM statistics cover the career side.
3. Computer Science and Engineering: A 50-Year Arc
Computer science is the only major STEM field where women’s share went backward. Women earned 36.8% of computer and information sciences bachelor’s degrees in 1984-85, but only 17.6% in 2010-11 (NCES, Digest Table 325.35). The recovery since then is real but partial: 22.6% in 2021-22, and the number of degrees to women more than tripled from 7,589 to 24,542 as the field boomed. Women’s share has risen faster in absolute numbers than in percentage terms because men’s enrollment grew just as fast.
Engineering tells the opposite story: steady gains from almost nothing. In 1970-71, women earned 407 of 50,182 engineering and engineering technology bachelor’s degrees (0.8%); by 2020-21 they earned 33,310 of 145,041, or 23.0% (NCES, Digest Table 325.45, 2022 edition). Department-level data from PhD-granting computing departments show the plateau persists: women earned 22.8% of CS bachelor’s degrees in 2023-24, up from 22.5%, and only 16.1% in computer engineering (CRA Taulbee Survey 2024). For the K-12 and course-taking side, see our computer science education statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CS bachelor’s to women, 1984-85 (peak share) | 36.8% (14,384 of 39,121) | NCES, Digest Table 325.35 |
| CS bachelor’s to women, 2000-01 | 27.7% | NCES, Digest Table 325.35 |
| CS bachelor’s to women, 2010-11 (low point) | 17.6% (7,589 of 43,066) | NCES, Digest Table 325.35 |
| CS bachelor’s to women, 2020-21 | 21.9% (22,957 of 104,883) | NCES, Digest Table 325.35 |
| Engineering bachelor’s to women, 1970-71 | 407 of 50,182 (0.8%) | NCES, Digest Table 325.45 (2022 edition) |
| Engineering bachelor’s to women, 2020-21 | 33,310 of 145,041 (23.0%) | NCES, Digest Table 325.45 (2022 edition) |
| Women’s share, PhD-granting computing departments, bachelor’s 2023-24 | CS 22.8%, computer engineering 16.1%, information 33%, all computing 23.7% | CRA Taulbee Survey 2024 |
| Nonbinary share of computing bachelor’s degrees, 2023-24 | 0.2% | CRA Taulbee Survey 2024 |
Context note: Taulbee covers 157 of 314 eligible PhD-granting departments (50% response rate) and 50,002 bachelor’s degrees in 2023-24, so it is a subset of the roughly 108,000 CS bachelor’s degrees NCES counts nationally.
4. Graduate School and Doctorates: Parity Overall, Gaps by Field
Women now earn nearly half of all US doctorates, and the doctorate is where their gains have been fastest. The number of women earning science and engineering doctorates rose 89% between 2004 and 2024, from 10,969 to 20,782, compared with a 49% increase for men (NCSES, Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2024). Women’s share of S&E doctorates climbed from 39% in 2004 to 45% in 2024, and to 48% of all doctorates.
The field split from the bachelor’s level carries straight through. Women earned 26.7% of computer and information sciences doctorates in 2024, 27.5% in engineering and 30.8% in mathematics and statistics, but 56.6% in biological and biomedical sciences and 74.1% in psychology (NCSES, SED 2024, Field of doctorate). At the master’s level in 2021-22, women earned 34.0% of computer science master’s degrees (17,439 of 51,338) and 29.3% of engineering master’s (14,448 of 49,339) (NCES, Digest Table 318.30).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s share of all US doctorates, 2024 | 48% (45% in 2004) | NCSES, SED 2024 (NSF 26-315) |
| Women’s share of S&E doctorates | 39% (2004), 42% (2009), 45% (2024) | NCSES, SED 2024 |
| Female S&E doctorate recipients | 10,969 (2004) to 20,782 (2024), +89%; men +49% | NCSES, SED 2024 |
| Women’s share of doctorates by field, 2024 | CS 26.7%, engineering 27.5%, math 30.8%, physical sciences 34.4% | NCSES, SED 2024 |
| Women’s share of doctorates by field, 2024 | Biology 56.6%, health sciences 69.9%, psychology 74.1% | NCSES, SED 2024 |
| Geosciences, atmospheric and ocean sciences doctorates, 2024 | 49.6% women | NCSES, SED 2024 |
| Women’s share of CS / engineering master’s, 2021-22 | 34.0% / 29.3% | NCES, Digest Table 318.30 |
| CS PhD students enrolled at PhD-granting departments | 27.1% women (26.3% prior year) | CRA Taulbee Survey 2024 |
Context note: NCSES reports that from 2004 to 2024 the female share grew in every broad field except health sciences, with the largest gains (9 percentage points or more) in agricultural sciences, geosciences, business, engineering and biological sciences. Women’s share of non-S&E doctorates was 61% in 2024.
5. Completion, Persistence and the Workforce Pipeline
The common assumption that women leave STEM majors faster than men is not what the national cohort data show. Among fall 2009 ninth graders who started college as STEM majors, 57% of women completed a STEM degree by 2021, compared with 53% of men (National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2026, STEM Talent). Overall, 55% of STEM starters finished in STEM, 16% switched to a non-STEM degree and 29% completed no degree. Race gaps in completion are far larger than the sex gap: 70% for Asian students versus 40% for Black students.
The level of credential differs, though. More men than women in that cohort completed a bachelor’s degree (91.2% vs 84.2%), while more women completed a certificate or associate’s degree (22.5% vs 13.4%). After graduation the gap widens again: men held 73% of science and engineering occupations in 2023, while women held 65% of S&E-related jobs, mostly health (National Science Board, Indicators 2026, STEM Labor). The pay consequences are tracked in our gender pay gap statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| STEM starters completing a STEM degree by 2021 | Women 57%, men 53% | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
| All STEM starters: STEM degree / non-STEM degree / no degree | 55% / 16% / 29% | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
| STEM completion by race | Asian 70%, White 62%, Hispanic 44%, Black 40% | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
| Bachelor’s completion in the STEM-starter cohort | Men 91.2%, women 84.2% | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
| Certificate or associate’s completion in the STEM-starter cohort | Women 22.5%, men 13.4% | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
| Men’s share of the 36 million-worker US STEM workforce, 2023 | 65% | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
| Men’s share of S&E occupations / women’s share of S&E-related occupations, 2023 | 73% / 65% | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
| Share of each sex’s workforce in STEM occupations, 2023 | Men 31%, women 19% | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
Context note: the cohort is the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), followed to 2021. Credential categories in the bachelor’s and associate’s rows can overlap, since a student can earn both.
6. Race, Ethnicity and Citizenship: The Gap Is Not Uniform
The gender gap in STEM degrees is widest among the two largest groups of graduates and narrowest among Black students. Women earned 47.3% of STEM bachelor’s degrees conferred to Black students in 2022-23 (14,265 of 30,175), versus 36.9% of those conferred to White students (82,398 of 223,491) (NCES, Digest Table 318.45). The female share was 41.6% among Asian graduates and 40.7% among Hispanic graduates. Nonresident (international) students had the widest gap, with women at 34.4%.
Citizenship shapes the doctoral picture even more. Among US citizens and permanent residents, women earned 54% of all doctorates in 2024; among temporary visa holders, men earned 62% (NCSES, SED 2024). Because temporary visa holders earned 61% of computer and information sciences doctorates and 54% of engineering doctorates, the international pipeline pulls the female share down in exactly the fields where it is already lowest.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s share of STEM bachelor’s, Black graduates, 2022-23 | 47.3% (14,265 of 30,175) | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of STEM bachelor’s, Two or more races | 42.3% (8,051 of 19,024) | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of STEM bachelor’s, Asian / Hispanic graduates | 41.6% / 40.7% | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of STEM bachelor’s, White / American Indian or Alaska Native graduates | 36.9% / 37.7% | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of STEM bachelor’s, nonresident graduates | 34.4% (10,970 of 31,917) | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Black students’ share of female vs male STEM bachelor’s (US residents) | 9.1% vs 6.5% | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of doctorates, citizens and permanent residents vs temporary visa holders, 2024 | 54% vs 38% | NCSES, SED 2024 |
| Temporary visa holders’ share of CS / engineering doctorates, 2024 | 61% / 54% | NCSES, SED 2024 |
Context note: the race-specific female shares are our calculations from the male and female counts in Table 318.45 (female count divided by total). NCES percentage distributions in the table exclude nonresidents from the denominator.
7. Global Benchmarks: The US Sits Mid-Pack
The US is neither a laggard nor a leader. Women were 38.48% of US tertiary STEM graduates in 2023, up from 33.39% in 2015 (World Bank, World Development Indicators, SE.TER.GRAD.FE.SI.ZS). Germany (28.72%) and South Korea (27.66%) sit well below, while several Middle East and North Africa countries report majority-female STEM graduating classes: Oman 53.90%, Tunisia 53.79% and Algeria 51.06%. UNESCO’s global figure is that women make up only 35% of STEM graduates, a share it says has not changed in ten years (UNESCO, Girls’ and women’s education in STEM).
Direction matters as much as level. The United Kingdom moved the other way from the US, from 37.97% in 2015 to 34.58% in 2023 (World Bank WDI). And volume is shifting east: China awarded 53,400 S&E doctoral degrees in 2022 against 44,700 in the United States, having overtaken the US in 2019 (National Science Board, Indicators 2026, International Comparisons). The gender gap in tech careers worldwide is tracked in our women in tech statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Female share of tertiary STEM graduates, United States | 38.48% (2023), 33.39% (2015) | World Bank WDI |
| Female share, United Kingdom | 34.58% (2023), 37.97% (2015) | World Bank WDI |
| Female share, Germany / South Korea / Chile | 28.72% (2024) / 27.66% (2024) / 20.99% (2024) | World Bank WDI |
| Female share, Canada / France / Italy / Australia | 36.27% / 34.47% / 39.35% / 32.80% (2023) | World Bank WDI |
| Female share, India / Saudi Arabia / UAE | 44.13% (2023) / 45.63% (2024) / 46.30% (2024) | World Bank WDI |
| Female share, Oman / Tunisia / Algeria | 53.90% (2024) / 53.79% (2023) / 51.06% (2024) | World Bank WDI |
| Women’s share of STEM graduates worldwide | 35%, unchanged in ten years | UNESCO |
| S&E doctoral degrees awarded, 2022 | China 53,400, United States 44,700, UK 16,000, Germany 14,000 | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
Context note: the World Bank series and NCES use different STEM definitions and counting rules, so the World Bank’s 38.48% for the US (2023) and NCES’s 38.9% for bachelor’s degrees (2022-23) are close but not interchangeable.
Summary: STEM Degree Completion Gender Gap by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s share of STEM bachelor’s, 2022-23 | 38.9% | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of STEM bachelor’s, 2012-13 | 35.0% | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of all bachelor’s, 2021-22 | 59% | NCES, Condition of Education 2024 |
| STEM share of each sex’s bachelor’s, 2021-22 | Women 14.3%, men 31.9% | NCES, Digest Tables 318.30 and 318.45 |
| Women’s share of STEM associate’s, 2022-23 | 28.8% | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Computer science bachelor’s to women, 2021-22 | 22.6% | NCES, Digest Table 318.30 |
| Engineering and engineering technologies bachelor’s to women, 2021-22 | 24.0% | NCES, Digest Table 318.30 |
| Biological sciences bachelor’s to women, 2021-22 | 66.2% | NCES, Digest Table 318.30 |
| CS bachelor’s to women, 1984-85 peak | 36.8% | NCES, Digest Table 325.35 |
| Computer engineering bachelor’s to women, 2023-24 | 16.1% | CRA Taulbee Survey 2024 |
| STEM starters completing a STEM degree | Women 57%, men 53% | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
| Women’s share of S&E doctorates, 2024 | 45% (39% in 2004) | NCSES, SED 2024 |
| Growth in female S&E doctorate recipients, 2004-2024 | +89% (men +49%) | NCSES, SED 2024 |
| CS / engineering doctorates to women, 2024 | 26.7% / 27.5% | NCSES, SED 2024 |
| Women’s share of STEM bachelor’s, Black graduates | 47.3% | NCES, Digest Table 318.45 |
| Women’s share of doctorates, temporary visa holders | 38% | NCSES, SED 2024 |
| Female share of US tertiary STEM graduates, 2023 | 38.48% | World Bank WDI |
| Women’s share of STEM graduates worldwide | 35% | UNESCO |
| Men’s share of US S&E occupations, 2023 | 73% | National Science Board, Indicators 2026 |
Methodology and Sources
Every figure above was read during research for this article in a government statistical table, an official statistical report, a survey report or an institutional data page. Search tools were unavailable during research, so sources were fetched directly from their publishers. Percentages marked as calculations show the counts used. Statistics circulating on listicle sites without a primary document were excluded.
- NCES Digest of Education Statistics: Table 318.45, STEM degrees by race/ethnicity, level and sex, 2012-13 to 2022-23 (2024 edition), Table 318.30, degrees by sex and field, 2021-22, Table 325.35, computer and information sciences degrees by sex, Table 325.45, engineering and engineering technologies degrees by sex (2022 edition)
- NCES Condition of Education (May 2024): Undergraduate Degree Fields, Graduate Degree Fields
- NCSES: Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2024, NSF 26-315 (March 2026), sections U.S. Doctorate Awards and Field of Doctorate
- National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2026, STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce (NSB-2026-1, February 2026): Persistence and Attrition, STEM Labor, International Comparisons
- Computing Research Association: Taulbee Survey 2024 report (2023-24 degrees)
- World Bank: World Development Indicators, Female share of graduates from STEM programmes, tertiary (SE.TER.GRAD.FE.SI.ZS), read through the World Bank data API
- UNESCO: Girls’ and women’s education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics
- Pew Research Center: STEM jobs see uneven progress in increasing gender, racial and ethnic diversity (April 2021)
- Data watch: Most recent available data for field-level bachelor’s and master’s counts by sex is 2021-22 (NCES Digest 2023, Table 318.30) and 2020-21 for the long engineering series (Digest 2022, Table 325.45); the 2024 Digest editions of these field tables could not be retrieved, while the STEM aggregate (Table 318.45) runs to 2022-23. NCES Condition of Education rounds the 2021-22 STEM bachelor’s count to 435,500, matching Table 318.45 (435,483). Table 318.45 shows STEM master’s degrees jumping from 139,936 in 2021-22 to 182,870 in 2022-23, an unusually large one-year change, so we cite only the female shares (37.6% and 37.0%) and not the growth. In the NSB cohort, the text describes 57% and 53% as completion among STEM starters, while the table title refers to starters who completed a degree; we report the figures as the NSB text states them. Pew’s 53% (2018) uses a definition that includes health fields and is more than three years old. The CRA Taulbee Survey covers only PhD-granting departments (50% response rate). World Bank country values come from different years (2023 or 2024) and Japan had no recent value. The ASEE engineering degree profiles, the Society of Women Engineers research pages and OECD Education at a Glance 2025 blocked automated access (403 or security check), so engineering-by-discipline and OECD-average figures were not included. UNESCO’s 35% figure does not state its reference year on the page.
Last updated: October 3, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next refresh is expected when NCES publishes the 2024 Digest field-of-study tables (2022-23 degrees by sex and field) and CRA releases the final Taulbee Survey 2025 report.