Essays on Immigration and Specialization in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Fields

Policymakers have struggled with the question of how best to increase the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. U.S.-educated immigrants and the U.S.-born children of immigrants may hold the key to understanding the role of comparative advantage in entering STEM fields. Both groups are more likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree in STEM fields compared with natives with U.S.-born parents. Using data on recent college graduates from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Survey of 2008, I find that measures of English proficiency fully explain the STEM obtainment gap between U.S.-educated immigrants and natives with U.S.-born parents, as well as about 40 percent of the gap between U.S.-born children of immigrants with two foreign-born parents and natives with U.S.-born parents, conditional on demographics, mathematical ability, and college preparation. Using data on adults from the American Community Survey from 2009 to 2012, I also find that measures of English proficiency fully explain the STEM obtainment gap between U.S.-educated immigrants and U.S.-born adults, conditional on demographics. There is little supporting evidence that academic preparation, mathematical ability, or country effects are creating the intergenerational gaps. I also investigate the post-undergraduate outcomes of STEM graduates and how they differ between immigrants and natives. Using data from the American Community Survey from 2009 to 2013, I find that about 68 percent of all STEM majors are not employed in a STEM occupation. Natives are about 3 percentage points more likely to be employed outside of a STEM field than immigrants. Male STEM graduates employed outside of a STEM field may have earned up to 12 percentage points more if they stayed in a STEM occupation. Similarly, female STEM graduates employed outside of a STEM field may have earned up to 32 percent more if they stayed in a STEM occupation.