ImmigrationStudy: Rethink Immigration Policy for STEM Doctorates

By James Dean

Published 27 January 2021

A streamlined process for awarding green cards to international STEM doctoral students graduating from U.S. universities could benefit American innovation and competitiveness, including leveling the field for startups eager to attract such highly skilled workers, according to a new study.

A streamlined process for awarding green cards to international STEM doctoral students graduating from U.S. universities could benefit American innovation and competitiveness, including leveling the field for startups eager to attract such highly skilled workers, according to a new study by researchers from Cornell and the University of California, San Diego.

The new Biden administration backs policy reform aimed at achieving that end, which was part of bipartisan legislation proposed more than a decade ago. But progress has been stalled by broader concerns about visas – particularly the temporary H-1B, commonly used to hire entry-level guest IT workers – that critics say displace Americans with lower-paid foreign labor and should be scaled back.

The new study presents evidence that the same concerns shouldn’t apply to foreign-born STEM doctorates from U.S. universities, said Michael Roach, the J. Thomas and Nancy W. Clark Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.

“Given that these doctorates often possess highly specialized skills and training at the leading edge of research in areas like vaccines, artificial intelligence, robotics and space,” Roach said, “blanket visa restrictions could significantly impact U.S. firms’ ability to hire and retain the best and brightest scientists.”

Roach is the co-author with John Skrentny, professor of sociology at UC San Diego, of “Rethinking Immigration Polices for STEM Doctorates,” published Jan. 22 in the journal Science.

The scholars surveyed a cohort of nearly 1,600 American and foreign-born STEM doctorates from U.S. research universities about their first industry research and development jobs, including their qualifications, starting salaries, hours worked and visa paths, where applicable.

The researchers found a majority of the international doctorates followed a complex and inefficient path toward permanent residency that involved multiple steps and visas. After their student visa, two-thirds were sponsored in their first job for an H-1B guest worker visa, which are offered annually by lottery, valid for three years and renewable for three more.

The percentages were highest among STEM doctorates from India and China – 78% and 67%, respectively – who because of per-country quotas face waits for green cards of as long as five to 10 years.

Employers didn’t use the temporary H-1B visas as a means to give employees extended trial periods, Roach and Skrentny found. Rather, they appeared to be used to buy time between graduation – and working on their student visa through the Optional Practical