ABSTRACT
Women changed the nature of the academic profession. About one out of three college teachers, almost one out of four lawyers, and one out of five medical doctors are female. Professor Parrish summarizes the impressive gains women have made in professional and graduate school enrollments since the 1960s and especially during the 1970s. Two key factors account for the remarkable shift in the gender composition of new doctorates in the United States from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s. First, the number of women earning PhDs each year is strikingly higher today compared with previous historical trends. Secondly, the number of men earning doctorates fell continuously from 1973 to 1985. The increase in new female doctorates only partially offset this decline. The National Center for Education Statistics reveals, however, that the propensity for female college graduates to follow through with earning a doctorate has remained fairly steady since the 1960s, at a level between 2.8 and 2.9 percent.
