The face of graduate education is changing at the University and nationwide, as more women and minorities obtain Ph.D.s and international students face new hurdles after Sept. 11, 2001, according to a National Science Foundation report released in November.
The report also found that the number of doctoral degrees awarded in sciences and engineering by American universities in 2005 reached an all-time high. The number of women and international students receiving Ph.D.s is also on the rise. However, the report noted that the number of postgraduate degrees in the humanities is falling.
Demographic and graduation figures at the University largely mirror nationwide trends.
"[Institutions] depend upon the free market," Graduate School Dean William Russel noted. With no regulations other than those administered by universities in admissions processes, the number of graduate students ebbs and flows with the economy.
For instance, as the technology sector grows, firms seek a greater number of employees with science and engineering Ph.D.s, Russel said.
Meanwhile, the number of students graduating with humanities Ph.D.s is waning at Princeton and around the country.
"The humanities traditionally, and still today for the most part, are educating students for the professoriate," Russel said, "and the number of opportunities in the professoriate is limited."
The plight of women
Women, though well-represented at the undergraduate level, are still a minority in graduate education. Nationally, they claim 45 percent of Ph.D.s, but only represent 39 percent of Princeton postgraduate degree candidates.
The gender gap is particularly notable in the sciences.
"The pipeline of women in science leaks," psychology professor Joan Girgus said. While women are well-represented in AP science courses in high school, they become a distinct minority as they climb the educational ladder.
At Princeton, only 26 percent of engineering and 32 percent of natural science Ph.D. students are women.
Girgus, who has investigated the gender gap among university faculty, attributes a large part of this disparity to sociocultural attitudes.
"Within any framework you want to set up, you find more men in science and engineering. [The number of women] is increasing, but the disparity remains," Girgus said. "Therefore it must be deeply embedded in the culture." Poor performance on a class or on a test, she said, can also be construed as gender-related.
Moreover, Russel noted that the difficulty of raising a family while pursuing higher education may prevent women from seeking Ph.D.s.
To counter this problem, Princeton has developed several programs, including daycare, to help female graduate students and faculty balance work and family. The physics department, Russel said, has a "morale officer."
An international focus
According to the NSF report, the number of international students receiving Ph.D.s climbed 13.4 percent from 2004 to 2005, with international students receiving 41 percent of science and engineering doctorates given by U.S. universities.
While higher than the national average, the percentage of international graduate students at Princeton is lower than in past years. The number of international students, currently at 39 percent, has dropped by one percent each year since 2002.
Dean Russel attributed this drop to current international tensions and concerns of imbalance in certain departments.
"With the additional security measures that were imposed [after September 11], it became very difficult for international students to get in the country," he said.
The dominant status of international students in some of the science and engineering fields has also led to changes in recruiting techniques. With international students representing 59 percent of Ph.D.s from 2005-2006, the engineering school recruits domestic candidates like the graduate school recruits minorities, Russel said.
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