ISIM Research/Projects

FOREIGN STEM STUDENTS AND WORKERS: PAST AND FUTURE

A research project funded by the

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Principals

B. Lindsay Lowell and Susan Martin

Project Description

The number of incoming foreign students, as well as foreign scientists and engineers (S&E), dropped in the wake of 9/11 and the recession of 2001. Many academics, business leaders, and policymakers are concerned that the trend may be a precursor to devastating losses to America's scientific and engineering enterprise. This project evaluates the causes and consequences of the trend. We will analyze legislation and procedures; interview a range of stakeholders; and generate a nuanced assessment of how security concerns affect admissions. Analyses will be carried out of the domestic S&E labor market and expert papers will be commissioned to better understand how trends in other nations may impact present and future U.S. competitiveness. The results will be a careful understanding of how immigrant admission policies are implemented and recommendations on how they can be improved.

Meetings

Briefs

Reports

Links

Meetings

1. Global Competition for International Students

On March 31, 2006, ISIM hosted a meeting entitled the Global Competition for International Students. Researchers presented their findings on S&E trends in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, India, and Southeast Asia. Participants represented government, academia, and the advocacy community. Check back soon for the meeting report. The Powerpoint presentations from the meeting are available below in .PDF format. The papers are available for downlaod under the reports section of this page.

2.) Congress and Tomorrow’s Foreign-Born Population: Evaluating Immigration Projections

In May 2006, Senate S.2611legislation included historical increases in the number of immigrants who could be admitted in the future. On October 26 and 27, 2006, ISIM convened a workshop that brought together the authors of the S.2611 projections, as well as experts from academia, government and non-government organizations. The purpose of the workshop was to evaluate the assumptions that caused different projections and to lay the groundwork for a better understanding of visa projections. T Powerpoint presentations are available below.

Setting the baseline: projections of total immigration
What immigration numbers are projected by the Pew Hispanic Center, Census Bureau, UN and other organizations? What problems have admission classes created for Census projections?
Jeff Passel, Pew Hispanic Center
Richard Jackson, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Entrants: S.2611’s capped, uncapped, and escalating visa classes
What is Congress contemplating in terms of the range of possible new and changed admissions classes? Are there meaningful distinctions for the purposes of projections, e.g., high/low skill, high/low multipliers, high/low return?
B. Lindsay Lowell, Institute for the Study of International Migration
Ruth Wasem, Congressional Research Service

The S.2611 projections: a diversity of assumptions
What do the authors of the Heritage, NFAP, CBO and CRS see as the strengths and weaknesses of their projections of visa classes? What are and should be common assumptions?
Robert Rector, Heritage Foundation
Paul Cullinan, Congressional Budget Office
Steve Camarota, Center for Immigration Studies
Ruth Wasem, Congressional Research Service
B. Lindsay Lowell, Institute for the Study of International Migration

How do transitions between visas classes complicate estimates?
Elizabeth Grieco, DHS Immigration Statistics
Lindsay Lowell, Institute for the Study of International Migration

Exits: mortality and emigration
Mortality data for immigrants are rather sparse; are there cautions to using averaged rates? Emigration data are also sparse: what are the best available estimates of emigration? Does emigration vary by visa type, nationality, or age at arrival?
Jeff Passel, Pew Hispanic Center

Multipliers: derived demand for family
How many family members would legal permanent residents and (eventual) citizens sponsor? Will future legal visa numbers accommodate those multipliers?
Karen A. Woodrow-Lafield, http://home.comcast.net/~karenwoodrowlafield
Guillermina Jasso, New York University - Dr. Jasso's talk drew on data from the New Immigrant Survey. For information on the NIS, see the NIS website: http://nis.princeton.edu

Demand: sponsorship, supply and demand, and the future labor force
How many workers will employers actually sponsor, i.e., how can demand and caps for a visa class be determined? Is immigration governed less by admissions and more by networks or supply-led demand? How can the science and engineering labor force be addressed?
Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University
Mitra Toosi, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Frank D. Bean, University of California – Irvine
Jeanne Batalova, Migration Policy Institute

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (http://www.aaas.org)
The AAAS is an international non-profit organization conducts science-related advocacy and publishes the journal Science, as well as scientific newsletters books and reports. See its report, AAAS Science and National Security in the Post-9/11 Environment http://www.aaas.org/spp/post911

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS
(http: www.aip.org/gov)
The AIP provides reports and data on physics education and employment. See its report on trends for foreign students studying physics in the U.S. (http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/international.pdf).

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
(http://chronicle.com/)
The Chronicle provides news, information and reports on current developments affecting higher education in the United States. See Monastersky, Richard. 2004. "Is There a Science Crisis? Maybe Not Leaders Warn of a Labor Shortage in the U.S., but Indicators Point to an Oversupply," The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 9.

COMMISSION ON PROFESSIONALS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (http://www.cpst.org)
CPST collects, analyzes and disseminates information about the human resources of the United States in the fields of science and technology. See its STEM Workforce Data Project, which details statistics on scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical (STEM) workers in the United States (http://www.cpst.org/STEM_Report.cfm).

COUNCIL OF GRADUATE SCHOOLS
(http://www.cgsnet.org)
Council provides a clearinghouse for studies related to graduate education. See its 2004 reports, "Findings from U.S. Graduate Schools on International Graduate Student Admissions Trends," and "Council of Graduate Schools Finds Decline in New International Graduate Student Enrollment for the Third Consecutive Year," at (http://www.cgsnet.org/index.htm). See also its "Statement and Recommendations on Visa Problems Harming America's Scientific, Economic, and Security Interests," (http://www.cgsnet.org/pdf/JointVisaStatement.pdf).

GRADSCHOOL.COM
(GradSchool.com)
See GradSchool.com. 2004. Survey of International Students, GradSchool.com.

INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
(http://www.iie.org)
IIE conducts policy research, and provides advising and counseling on international education and opportunities abroad. IEE publishes Open Doors, which tracks information on international students in the United States and on U.S. students who sojourn abroad as part of their academic experience. The book provides 96 pages of data on national origin, sources of financial support, fields of study, host institutions, academic level, and rates of growth of the international student population in the United States, as well as the economic impact of foreign students to the host state and national economies (http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/?p=25092).

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS
(http://www.iee.org)
Europe-based Institution provides policy briefs, reports and client services to the engineering profession.

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
(http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer)
The NAS conducts policy research on science-related issues. See also its report, Policy Implications of International Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars in the U.S. (http://www7.nationalacademies.org/InternationalStudents/index.html).

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
(http://www.nsf.gov/)
The NSF has a wealth of statistics and analysis about all aspects of the US S&E labor force and the R&D enterprise. The yearly S&E Indicators tracks changes in higher education and in the labor force with international comparisons (http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind04/). See also the National Science Board (http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/start.htm) and special reports on minorities and women in S&E fields, as well as other relevant topics. See also the National Science Board, 2004. The Science and Engineering Workforce Realizing America's Potential/, Arlington: National Science Foundation www.nsf.gov/nsb/documents/2003/nsb0369/nsb0369.pdf

NATIONAL POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATION
(http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/)
Association advocates on behalf of U.S. researchers.

THE RAND CORPORATION
(http://www.rand.org/)
The Rand Corporation provides analysis of social, economic and defense issues, as well as policy recommendations. See its report, Is the Federal Government Facing a Shortage of Scientific
and Technical Personnel? Santa Monica: Rand Corporation (http://www.rand.org/publications/RB/RB1505/).

U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES
(http://uscis.gov)
Created in March 20003 as a separate bureau of the Department of Homeland Security, USCIS provides the immigration and citizenship services formerly tasked to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. USCIS conducts regular studies and reports on immigration trends, policy changes and the administration of services. See also its reports on H-1B visas (http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/repsstudies/h1b/index.htm). See also the Office of Immigration Statistics, which develops, analyzes and disseminates statistical information on immigration (http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/index.htm).

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
(http://www.dol.gov)
The Labor Department tracks employment, wage and productivity statistics. See also the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://stats.bls.gov/oes/home.htm).

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
(http://www.dhs.gov)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: BUREAU OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS
(http://www.travel.state.gov)

U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
(http://judiciary.house.gov)
The Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims has jurisdiction over immigration and naturalization, border security, admission of refugees, treaties, conventions and international agreements, claims against the United States, federal charters of incorporation, private immigration claim bills, non-border enforcement, and other matters (http://judiciary.house.gov/committeestructure.aspx?committee=4).

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