Rethinking immigration policies for STEM doctorates

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 371; no. 6527; pp. 350 - 352
• Main Authors: Roach, Michael, Skrentny, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The American Association for the Advancement of Science 22.01.2021
• Subjects: Economic conditions; Economic development; Economic growth; Employment; Entry Workers; Immigration; Immigration policy; Innovations; R&D; Research & development; Research facilities; Research programs; Training; Universities; Workers; United States > US
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.abe7151

Many Ph.D.'s follow an inefficient path to green cards through visas aimed at entry-level workers Despite broad consensus that high-skilled immigration can contribute to innovation and economic growth ( 1 – 3 ), there is considerable controversy regarding how to reform immigration policies, including for workers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions. Much attention has centered on entry-level IT workers ( 4 , 5 ), but less consideration has been given to the visa pathways of STEM doctorates ( 6 , 7 ) who, unlike entry-level IT workers, can bring firms advanced training at the frontiers of science and technology and contribute disproportionately to innovation and entrepreneurship relative to workers with bachelor's or master's degrees ( 3 ). We provide new insights on the visa progression, qualifications, and starting salaries of STEM doctorates in the U.S. context from a survey that follows a cohort of 1597 U.S. citizen (69.7%) and foreign-born (30.3%) science and engineering Ph.D.'s from U.S. research universities into their first-time industry R&D employment [see details in the supplementary materials (SM)]. We show that the H-1B visa has become the predominant first step for STEM Ph.D.'s employed in industrial R&D, not because it is legally required or the most suitable visa but because of inefficiencies and delays on the path to permanent residency. Our findings show that the H-1B—a highly contentious visa used primarily for entry-level workers—may be an inefficient pathway for U.S.-trained STEM doctorates and suggest the need to rethink visa policies to retain these highly specialized workers.