2019 acs graduate Student Survey Report

Table 1.
Comparing the 2019 ACS Graduate Student Survey Sample with the Characteristics of the 
2013 ACS Graduate Student Survey Sample and the National Population of Doctoral and Master’s 
Degree-Earners in Chemistry (5-year average, 2013–2017). Percentages are reported.
2013 
ACS Graduate 
Student Survey 
sample 
(2,992)
Master’s 
degree, 
national 
population*
(2,495)
Doctoral 
degree, 
national 
population*
(2,913)
2019 
ACS Graduate 
Student Survey 
sample 
(2,772)
Current degree program 
Doctoral degree 
91.4 
92.0 
--- 
---
8.6 
8.0
---
---
Master’s degree 
Gender
 (N=1,814)
Female 
55.2 
49.0 
45.1 
39.4
Male 
41.6 
51.0 
54.9 
60.6
Nonbinary/third gender 
0.7 
--- 
--- 
---
Prefer to self-describe 
0.5 
--- 
--- 
---
Prefer not to say 
2.0 
---
--- 
---
Citizenship or visa status (N=1,891)
U.S. native 
74.0 
71.1 
--- 
---
U.S. naturalized citizens 
2.8 
3.5 
--- 
---
U.S. permanent resident 
2.3 
2.1 
--- 
---
Foreign student (F-1) visa 
19.3 
21.5 
--- 
---
Other visa 
1.7 
1.9 
--- 
---
Racial background (N=1,815, 2019 Survey)
American Indian/Alaska Native 
1.9 
1.7 
--- 
---
Asian American/Pacific Islander 
20.7 
23.7 
--- 
---
Black/African American 
3.3 
3.9 
--- 
---
Other 
4.0 
3.8 
--- 
--- 
White 
70.2 
67.0 
--- 
---
Of Hispanic/Latino/a descent† 6.3 
5.8 
--- 
---
Race/ethnicity among U.S. citizens/
permanent residents only‡ (N=1,463)
American Indian/Alaska Native 
1.4 
1.8 
0.3 
0.4
Asian American/Pacific Islander 
8.3 
8.0 
11.9 
9.5
Black/African American
2.5
3.5 
5.7 
4.4
Hispanic/Latino/a 
6.5 
5.7 
7.7 
5.9
Other
1.9 
2.0 
8.9 
8.8
White
79.3 
78.9 
65.5 
71.0
*Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, special tabulations of U.S.
Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Com-
pletions Survey, average for 2013–2017.
† On the 2019 ACS Graduate Student Survey, the Hispanic/Latino/a question was asked separately from the race/ethnicity
question. About 6% of all students responding to the question (N=1,872) marked that they were Hispanic/Latino/a. Of those

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marking Hispanic/Latino/a, 87% marked an additional racial/ethnic category (the distribution was as follows: 57.8% White, 
2.9% Black/African American, 12.7% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 2.9% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 23.5% other).
‡ The Hispanic/Latino/a category was merged with existing racial categories in this calculation. If a respondent marked 
Hispanic/Latino/a, the respondent was placed into this category regardless of other racial categories that the individual may 
have marked.

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3. Results
The 2019 ACS Graduate Student Survey solicited feedback from graduate students in three 
major areas: career interests and plans, graduate education competencies, and contextual fac-
tors, such as advisors and mentors, resources, support, and satisfaction. The following sections 
present the survey results in the context of these categories.