“High Skilled” Immigration Data

NSF Releases “High-Skilled Immigration Data”

In the overall immigration rhetoric, one consistently positive aspect is the number of “high-skilled” immigrants in the science, engineering, and medicine fields. The debate often swirls about how to retain those immigrants, many of whom are at educated and trained in the United States. Hopefully that debate receives more substantive discussion and meritorious ideas as the presidential elections careen forward next year. The STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields dominate this discussion.

Last month, the National Science Foundation published information about the increased number of scientists and engineers in the workforce and immigrants’ role in that. In “Immigrants’ Growing Presence in the U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce: Education and Employment Characteristics in 2013,” the data break down immigrants and U.S. born citizens and where the immigrants originate.

The data also categorize by fields and level of degree attainment