Immigrants are 42 percent of California’s STEM workforce
Forty-two percent of California’s workers in science, technology, engineering and math occupations were born in a foreign nation, according a recent analysis.
The American Immigration Council, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, studied the occupational, gender, educational and geographic distribution of foreign-born STEM workers in the United States, using 2015 survey data by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Nationally, about one-quarter of the nation’s STEM workforce is foreign-born, according to the report, “Foreign-born STEM Workers in the United States.” It has grown significantly in recent years, doubling from 11.9 percent in 1990 to 24.3 percent in 2015, according to the advocacy group, which studies immigration to the United States.
“The importance of foreign-born workers in STEM occupations cannot be overstated,” according to the report. “As the demand for STEM workers continues to increase, foreign-born STEM workers will play a key role in U.S. productivity and innovation.”
Other studies have found that the foreign-born are more likely than the native-born to obtain a patent — and that immigrants account for rising shares of U.S. patents in computing, electronics, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. More than 40 percent of companies in the Fortune 500 in 2010 were founded by an immigrant or the child of an immigrant.
Immigrants help native-born co-workers because their innovations boost the productivity and revenue of STEM-focused businesses, enabling employers to hire more workers, according to the American Immigration Council. One study of workplaces found that adding 100 foreign-born workers in STEM fields with advanced degrees from U.S. universities led to an additional 262 jobs for U.S.-born workers.