In this project, I continue exploring the data set used in my post on employment rates of college graduates. Here, I’m looking at how gender gaps in college degrees have changed specifically during the time between 1968 – 2011. At the end of the post are grouped line charts comparing how the gap across all degree categories between genders have changed over time.
Here are some of the findings:
Within the STEM category:
- Percentages flipped within Psychology and Biology in the 70s and 80s, respectively, with more women in these categories than men now.
- The gap within Math and Physical Sciences looks to be almost closed with equal share of men and women in this category.
- However, in Computer Science, it looked like the gap started closing in the 80s but reversed with more men coming into the field and women decreasing.
- The gap in Engineering looks to be closing but at a slow rate.
Within the Liberal Arts category:
- Foreign Languages, English, and Art and Performance show that women continue to have a majority share in these fields.
- The gap in Communications and Journalism looks to have flipped in the 80s with women having a majority share.
- Social Sciences and History show that the gap has actually closed beginning in the 2000s.
For other categories:
- Women continue to hold the majority share in Health Professions, Public Administration, and Education.
- However, starting in the mid-2000s, the gap has equalized or is significantly closing within Agriculture, Business, and Architecture, which has primarily had more men in these categories.
The data released by American Community Survey and cleaned by FiveThirtyEight can be found here.