Data on new and recent math PhDs
Each year US Universities graduate around 1200 mathematics PhDs, of whom around half
are US citizens or permanent residents. Approximately 30 percent are female, and 8
percent are members of under-represented ethnic and racial minority groups. In a
typical year, around 50 (i.e., around 4 percent) are unemployed at the time they
graduate. This year, the large number of applicants to the Mathematics Institutes'
postdoc positions suggests that the unemployment rate for new PhDs is more than 30
percent.
Historical Data for Mathematics PhDs
Each year US Universities graduate around 1200 mathematics PhDs,
of whom around half are US citizens or permanent residents.
Approximately 30 percent are female, and 8 percent are
members of under-represented ethnic and racial minority groups.
In a typical year, around 50 (i.e. around 4 percent) are
unemployed at the time they graduate.
Data from the annual employment survey of the American Mathematics
Society (AMS), available at http://www.ams.org/employment/surveyreports.html
Data for 2008 is preliminary, and "%unemployed" refers to the unemployment
rate for new PhDs, shortly after receiving their degree. Data compiled
from surveys of the math departments awarding the degrees.
| AMS data of recent mathematics PhD recipients |
| Year of PhD | number of PhDs | US citizen PhDs | % female | % underrep'd minorities | %unemployed |
| 2008 | 1235 | 540 | 31 | 9 | 4.7 |
| 2007 | 1333 | 576 | 31 | 6 | 2.4 |
| 2006 | 1311 | 552 | 28 | 8 | 3.3 |
| 2005 | 1222 | 496 | 28 | 7 | 3.9 |
2009 data
The AMS data for 2009 will not be available for several months,
so we provide statistics for the 782 applicants for the
NSF Math Institutes Postdoctoral Fellowships.
This information is accurate as of April 10, 2009, the closing
date for submitting an application. (All numbers should be
considered an underestimate, because there may be people who
were unemployed but did not submit an application.)
The data show that, by any possible measure, the number of unemployed
mathematicians in 2009 is significantly larger than past years,
with an unemployment rate for new math PhDs of more than 30 percent
this year.
Demographic data:
The applicant pool was 73% male and 22% female, with 5% not reporting.
The racial/ethnic makeup of the applicant pool was
51% white, 35% asian or pacific islander, 6% black or hispanic,
and 8% other or not reporting.
Data by year of PhD:
| Number of applicants in each category |
| Year of PhD | US Citizens | All |
| 2009 | 183 | 405 |
| 2008 | 45 | 114 |
| 2007 | 33 | 73 |
| 2006 | 36 | 81 |
| ≤ 2005 | 41 | 78 |
| Total | 359 | 783 |