Doctoral degrees awarded to Blacks in agricultural economics: 1999-2019

This paper looks at 21 years of data on doctoral degrees granted across the US and compares agricultural economics to economics and other fields. While the percentage of doctoral degrees awarded to Blacks is generally higher than that in economics, both the percent and the number of Blacks completing their degrees have decreased slightly over time in agricultural economics. The number and percent of doctoral degrees across all fields awarded to Black students increased over the same period. The paper also reviews studies related to diversity in the economics and agricultural economics professions and discusses possible reasons for the disparities.