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An update, as of 1977, of four National Center for Education Statistics reports concerned with changing patterns in degree awards to women is presented. Separate chapters are devoted to bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and first-professional degrees. Each chapter consists of an overview, an examination by field of study of the percentage representation of women among degree recipients in 1977 as compared with 1971, and an examination of the relative popularity of different fields of study for men and for women, and how this has changed between 1971 and 1977. An overall finding of the report is that most of the trends identified in the four small reports continue to be evident in the 1977 data. Among findings are that at all four degree levels women continued to increase their percentage representation among degree recipients; that in 1977 women accounted for 46.2 percent of the bachelor's degrees, 47.1 percent of the master's degrees, 24.3 percent of the doctoral degrees, and 18.7 percent of the first-professional degrees; and that at both the bachelor's and master's levels women tended to show the greatest increases in those fields in which they have traditionally had small representation. (Author/PHR)

Organized into 4 chapters, the report provides tabular data portraying the educational condition for about 12 million Hispanic Americans in the United States, and shows how Hispanics compare with the majority population on various measures of educational participation and achievement. Providing an overview of Hispanic Americans in the U.S., Chapter 1 discusses the problems of defining Hispanics and Hispanic subgroups, and presents general information on such characteristics as size of the Hispanic population, age and geographical distribution, and school enrollment status. Concerned with elementary and secondary education, Chapter 2 covers such topics as enrollment rates, characteristics of high school students, and school noncompletion. This chapter concludes with a brief description of education in Puerto Rico. Covering postsecondary education, Chapter 3 includes tabular data on such topics as enrollment, degrees awarded, and characteristics of students. Portraying the status in American society of Hispanic teenagers and adults as related to their previous level of education, Chapter 4 covers such topics as employment by broad occupational category, unemployment rates, post-high school experiences, and income levels. Throughout the report, data on Hispanics are compared with data on non-Hispanics to provide an interpretative context. (Author/NQ)

Award patterns of master's degrees to women in academic years 1970-71 and 1975-76 are examined based on data collected through the annual Survey of Degrees and Other Formal Awards Conferred. In 1971, 23l,000 master's degrees were awarded in the United States, and 40 percent were awarded to women. In 1976, the total number awarded was 313,000, and those awarded to women had increased to 46 percent. In 1971, women predominated in six fields: education, foreign languages, health professions, home economics, letters, and library science. In 1976, women still predominated in the same six traditionally feminine fields, but women increased their percentage representation in 20 out of 24 fields, suggesting a general, though small, tendency among women to become less tradition-bound in selecting their field of study. The two fields in which women constituted an overwhelming majority in 1971 (home economics and library science) had declined slightly by 1976, and the fields in which women were at least represented in 1971 showed the largest increases in the 1976 data. Education continued to be the favorite field, accounting for 57 percent of all master's degrees awarded to women. Data are presented on the percentage distribution of degrees by academic field for both men and women for 1971 and 1976. Appendices provide data on the numbers and percentages of degrees awarded to women by academic field for each year from 1970-71 through 1975-76. (SW)

The enrollment of women in higher education in relation to overall enrollment during the past decade is examined. For bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and first-professional degrees, the following are considered: the overall picture, representation of women among degree recipients by field of study for 1979 as compared with 1971; and the relative popularity of different fields of study for men and women, and how this changed between 1971 and 1979. Among the findings are the following: in 1979, women accounted for 48.3 percent of the bachelor's degrees, 49.1 percent of the master's degrees, 13.8 percent of the doctoral degrees, and 23.6 percent of the first-professional degrees; education continued to be the most popular degree field for women at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree levels; for men, business and management was the most popular at the bachelor's and master's degree levels, while education was the most popular at the doctoral level. In addition, women continued to increase their representation in all eight of the first-professional fields, such as medicine and law, in which trends could be measured, but they are still a definite minority in all of these fields. (SW)

Organized into 4 chapters, the report provides tabular data portraying the educational condition for about 12 million Hispanic Americans in the United States, and shows how Hispanics compare with the majority population on various measures of educational participation and achievement. Providing an overview of Hispanic Americans in the U.S., Chapter 1 discusses the problems of defining Hispanics and Hispanic subgroups, and presents general information on such characteristics as size of the Hispanic population, age and geographical distribution, and school enrollment status. Concerned with elementary and secondary education, Chapter 2 covers such topics as enrollment rates, characteristics of high school students, and school noncompletion. This chapter concludes with a brief description of education in Puerto Rico. Covering postsecondary education, Chapter 3 includes tabular data on such topics as enrollment, degrees awarded, and student characteristics. Portraying the social status in American society of Hispanic teenagers and adults as related to their previous educational level, Chapter 4 covers such topics as employment by broad occupational category, unemployment rates, post-high school experiences, and income levels. Throughout the report, data on Hispanics are compared with data on Anglo Americans to provide an interpretative context. (Author/NQA)

The report is a sequel to an earlier report on doctoral awards to men and women since 1970-71, the focuses on the first and last years of the study, 1970-71 and 1975-76. The increase in women's representation among doctoral degree recipients has been steady over those six years, rising from 14.3 percent to 22.9 percent. While the numbers of degrees awarded to women climbed, the number for men actually decreased during that time. Data are presented for field of study, giving numbers and percentages of women recipients for the two years in question, and giving percentage gains. (MSE)

Changes in the percentage representation of women among recipients of first professional degrees are examined between the academic years 1970-71 and 1975-76. The data were collected through the annual Survey of Degrees and Other Formal Awards Conferred. A first professional degree is one that "signifies completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession.'" Eight professions are considered: dentistry, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, veterinary medicine, law, and theology. While women increased their percentage representation in all eight of these professions, they still constitute a distinct minority in all fields, and available enrollment data suggest that these trends will continue. Data are presented on the percentage of women among first year enrollments in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and law for each year from 1971 to 1976. Women's percentage representation among first-year enrollments increased every year from 1971 through 1976. Data are presented on the relative popularity of the various fields among women seeking a first professional degree, and comparative data for men are presented. Based on the 1976 data, pharmacy is the field in which women are most highly represented, and the fields of law and medicine together account for 86 percent of all first professional degrees awarded to women in 1976. Appendices provide data on the numbers and percentages of degrees awarded to women by professional field for each year from 1970-71 through 1975-76. (SW)