The Native American Presence in Physics and the Geosciences

by Roman Czujko and Starr Nicholson

Overall

  • Out of the 1.4 million people who earned bachelor's degrees in the US in 2004, about 9,900 were Native Americans. This represents a significant increase from the 6,000 Native Americans who earned bachelors a decade earlier.


  • Over the 5 academic years from 2000 through 2004, 57% of all bachelor's degrees were earned by women. Among Native American college students, women make up an even larger percentage, earning about 60% of all bachelor's degrees.


  • In 2004, more than 42,000 PhDs were awarded in the US across all fields. Of them 135 were earned by Native Americans. The number of Native Americans earning PhDs increased 5-fold from 1975 to 1999. However, the number of PhDs has dropped by more than a third since (Figure 1).



Geosciences

  • About 30 Native Americans earn a bachelor's degree in the geosciences each year. Over the last decade, this level of representation has not changed (Table 1).


  • Over the last 5 years combined, only three universities awarded 3 or more geoscience bachelor's degrees to Native Americans. They were: University of Arizona, University of Arkansas, and University of Oklahoma.

  • During the 32 academic years from 1973 though 2004, over 21,000 geoscience PhDs were awarded in the US. Only 51 were earned by Native Americans, of whom 39 were men and 12 were women. While the numbers are very small, there was a noticeable increase over the last 3 decades in the number of Native Americans earning geoscience PhDs (Figure 2).


  • Over the last 10 years, 23 Native Americans earned geoscience PhDs. The College of William and Mary is the only institution to award more than one geoscience PhD to Native Americans between 1995 and 2004.



Physics

  • Fewer than 20 Native Americans earn bachelors in physics each year. Over the last decade, there was little evidence of change in the representation of Native Americans among physics bachelors (Table 2).


  • Only two universities awarded 3 physics bachelor's degrees to Native Americans over the last 5 years combined. They were: East Central University (OK) and the University of California at Santa Barbara.


  • During the 32 academic years from 1973 through 2004, over 39,000 physics PhDs were awarded. However, only 42 were earned by Native Americans, of whom 38 were men and 4 were women. Over the last 3 decades, there does not appear to be much change in the number of Native Americans earning physics PhDs (Figure 3).


  • Over the last 10 years, 15 Native Americans earned physics PhDs. The only universities that awarded more than one physics PhD to Native Americans between 1995 and 2004 were Alabama A & M University and Stanford University.