Earnings of Foreign-born Doctoral Engineers in the United States: Intersection of Immigration Status and Gender

• In Event: 3251 - Section on International Migration Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 13. Labor Market Incorporation

Abstract

Foreign-born scientists and engineers in the U.S. make significant contributions to scientific research, development, and innovation in their fields. However, research into their career outcomes is lacking, and even less attention has been given to how gender and immigration status interacts in shaping their career outcomes. This study employs National Science Foundation’s Survey of Doctorate Recipients 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, and 2015 to examine how immigration status, gender, and the interaction of immigration status and gender affect earnings among engineers with doctoral degrees. OLS regressions show that after demographic, educational, and employment characteristics are controlled for, all foreign-born groups (naturalized U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents) earn less than their native-born counterparts, ranging from 6% (naturalized U.S. citizens) to 23% (temporary residents). Further analysis with marginal effect tests reveals that gender affects these groups differently. More specifically, the earnings gap with U.S.-born citizen men disappeared among naturalized U.S. citizen men over time and decreased among naturalized U.S. citizen women, permanent resident men and women, and temporary resident men but not among temporary resident women. These findings confirm the internal variations among foreign-born engineers, show changes over time, and also reveal the interaction effects of immigration status and gender.

Author

• Yu Tao, Stevens Institute of Technology