Innovation and STEM Fields
For America to compete in the 21st century, we need a robust innovation economy—which requires a workforce skilled in the science, technology, engineering, and math (or STEM) fields. Yet American students are not entering those industries in sufficient numbers, and the United States is projected to face a shortage of one million STEM workers by 2022.1 Foreign-born students frequently gravitate towards STEM disciplines, making up roughly one out of every three individuals earning graduate-level STEM degrees each year. Our broken visa system, however, makes it difficult for many of them to stay after graduation—a reality that hurts the ability of our employers to expand and create more opportunity for American workers. 1 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, "Engage to Excel: Producing 1 million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics," February 2012. Available online.
Klaus Kleinfeld
For Alcoa to a remain America’s leader in Aluminum research, innovation, and production, we increasingly rely on our ability to hire, train, and keep a diversified workforce that draws upon talent from this country as well as from abroad. I joined the Partnership for a New American Economy as I… Read More
Zvi Or Bach
MonolithIC 3D Inc., my latest company, has developed a breakthrough technology to enable practical monolithic 3D chips with the potential to extend Moore’s Law for the next two decades with significant benefits in power, speed, density and price. The U.S. Patent Office granted our chip research five patents, and more… Read More
Rich Beyer
The semiconductor industry is constantly reinventing itself with technology innovations that create new markets and evolve the features and performance of existing products. Our products touch virtually every aspect of the economy from communication and transportation to medical and consumer electronics. American-based companies like Freescale have been leaders in the… Read More
Intro: Innovation
American innovation is key to our technological achievement. According to a 2012 Partnership study, 76 percent of patents granted to the top U.S. patent-producing universities in 2011 had an immigrant inventor, with inventors originating from 88 different countries. Seventy-nine percent of all pharmaceutical patents were invented or co-invented by a… Read More
Intro: High Skilled Labor
Immigrants play a vital role in America’s high-skilled fields. By 2018, America will face a projected shortfall of more than 200,000 advanced-degree STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) holders. More than half of all PhDs graduating from U.S. universities in many STEM fields are foreign-born, yet current immigration laws make… Read More
How immigration reform might also spur young Americans to study math, science
Christian Science Monitor June 8, 2013 By David Grant Tucked into immigration reform legislation in both chambers of Congress are little-noticed measures that could pump hundreds of millions of dollars into cultivating a new generation of American students interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (or STEM). Such a… Read More
Why VCs and Foreign Founders Want the ‘Entrepreneur Visa’
Wall Street Journal June 5, 2013 Immigration challenges plague foreign entrepreneurs who want to build startups in the U.S. Beyond worrying about individual visa status, a founder has to worry about tax laws in the U.S., and for example, predict how a requirement to repatriate proceeds may impact a company’s… Read More
Silicon Valley execs share personal immigration woes at virtual #iMarch
Peninsula Press May 24, 2013 By Anna Li Silicon Valley is famous for drawing talented engineers and highly skilled workers to technology corporations and startups. A large number of these workers are foreigners who find well-paid jobs but face immigration barriers to staying in the United States. And, this week, those… Read More
These Three Facts Prove That America Needs More Immigrants
Business Insider May 22, 2013 By Somesh Dash America finally has an opportunity to establish a sensible immigration policy in the coming months. The effects of the policy will have far reaching ramifications in terms of both economic and social implications for the country in years to come. Read More
The Immigrant Entrepreneurship Decline in the U.S.
ThomasNet.com November 13, 2012 A recently released report from the Kauffman Foundation, found that the percentage of immigrant-founded companies nationwide dropped from 25.3 percent in 2005 to 24.3 percent last year. A closer look at Silicon Valley start-ups also revealed a more drastic decline: while 52.4 percent of tech… Read More
Outsize Role in the Workforce
Immigrants punch above their weight class in the STEM fields, making up far larger portions of the STEM workforce than they do the U.S. population overall. This dynamic is particularly pronounced in several states. In New Jersey, for instance, immigrants make up almost two out of every five STEM workers, while accounting for only one in five of the state’s residents.
States with the Highest Share of Foreign-Born STEM Workers, 2014
Labor Shortages
In recent years, many U.S. employers have struggled to find enough STEM workers. This lack of manpower has real consequences for the economy—making it difficult for firms to expand and create jobs for American workers at all skill levels. In several specialized fields, like physical science and software development, the unemployment rates of U.S.-born STEM workers are particularly low, indicating there are simply not enough U.S.-born workers to meet the needs of employers.
Take a look at our latest research about the shortage of STEM workers.
U.S. Citizen Unemployment Rates in STEM Fields Most Heavily Reliant on Immigrant STEM Workers, 2014
Earning STEM Degrees
International students make up a large share of STEM graduate students. In 2014, more than a quarter of STEM master’s degrees and more than a third of STEM Ph.D. degrees went to students in the country on temporary visas. Meanwhile, the number of American citizen and permanent resident students pursuing graduate degrees in science and engineering fields actually fell by 6.3 percent between 2010 and 2013.2 Our broken immigration system means that many of these international students will struggle to remain in the country after graduation, despite employers needing them.
Sources:
2 National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators, 2016, Appendix Table 2-25. Available online.
Share of Ph.D.'s in Selected Fields Going to Students on Temporary Visas, 2014
States Graduating the Most STEM Students on Temporary Visas, 2014
States Needing STEM Workers
While every state was short STEM workers in 2015, the shortage was particularly acute in North Dakota and South Dakota, where employers listed 87 and 71 STEM positions, respectively, for each unemployed STEM worker. These are gaps that immigrants could help fill. In South Dakota, for instance, immigrants made up just three percent of all STEM workers in 2015, one of the lowest shares in the country.
States with Greatest Shortages of STEM Workers, 2014
Creating U.S. Jobs
Rather than reduce the number of jobs available to American workers, foreign-born STEM graduates often create additional jobs for U.S.-born workers. Research shows that when a state gains 100 foreign-born STEM workers with graduate-level training from a U.S. school, an average of 262 jobs are created for U.S.-born workers there in the seven years that follow.3 More specifically, the temporary visa (H-1B) program for high-skilled workers is also linked to job creation for American workers and economic growth. However, the current system fails not only to provide visas that companies need to grow, but also to protect against fraud and abuse.
Sources:
3 Madeline Zavodny, “Immigration and American Jobs,” The Partnership for a New American Economy and the American Enterprise Institute, 2011. Available online.
States that Stand to Gain the Most from Retaining More Foreign-Born STEM Graduates
The Impact of our Broken Immigration System
Since the recession, some of the most robust growth in high-wage, American jobs has occurred in cities. The high-tech companies fueling this growth cannot succeed and grow, however, without qualified STEM professionals—a group that can be difficult to find. An annual cap on the number of available green cards and H-1B visas hinders efforts to hire immigrant STEM professionals when no American workers are available. At right, we explore how the H-1B requests for computer-related workers that did not make it through the 2007 and 2008 H-1B visa lotteries impacted wages and the number of jobs available for U.S.-born tech workers in the two years that followed.4
Sources:
4 Partnership for a New American Economy, “Closing Economic Windows: How H-1B Visa Denials Cost U.S.-Born Tech Workers Jobs and Wages During the Great Recession," June 4, 2014. Available online.
Metropolitan Areas Hurt Most by 2007 and 2008 Denials in the H-1B Lottery
Driving Innovation
International STEM students and graduates are behind some of America’s most impressive innovations, from artificial skin to moldable metal. Studies show that immigrants with an advanced degree are three times more likely than U.S.-born graduate degree holders to file a patent. When universities increase their share of international students, they often receive more patents—boosting revenue and creating more opportunities for all students.
Share of Patents Awarded to Top Patent Producing Research Universities with at Least One Foreign-Born Inventor, 2011
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