Protecting Our Foreign-Born Talent: Looking To STEM And Beyond To Boost Our Economy
Date: June 20, 2012
Metropolitan Corporate Counsel
June 19, 2012
Among the few agreements on Capitol Hill concerning immigration reform, legislators from both sides of the aisle agree on America’s need for talent, particularly in advanced fields such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). American businesses, in addition to legislators, are seeking to attract and retain foreign talent within high- innovation fields to the U.S. to create new jobs and jumpstart our lagging economy. It is easy to see why we need to encourage and retain these highly skilled individuals in the U.S. – nearly half of U.S. master’s and Ph.D. degree recipients in STEM-related fields are foreign born, and many of these graduates leave the U.S. after experiencing frustrating setbacks in converting to valid worker status. The White House has even expressed concern over the continuous exodus of highly trained and competitive pre-professionals and entrepreneurs in the STEM field.