Master's Degree Awards to Women.

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)