24.15 Who earns academic degrees? How do women and men compare in the pursuit of academic degrees? The following table presents counts (in thousands), as projected by the National Center for Education Statistics, of degrees earned in 2015–2016 categorized by the level of the degree and the sex of the recipient.

Associate’sBachelor’sMaster’sProfessional/doctorate
Female37578833587
Male577105946792
Total9521847802179
  1. (a) How many total people are predicted to earn a degree in the 2015–2016 academic year?

  2. (b) How many people earned associate’s degrees?

  3. (c) What percentage of each level of degree is earned by women? Write a brief description of what the data show about the relationship between sex and degree level.