Analysis of data on nearly 120,000 people who immigrated to the United States before age 16 suggests that specialization in science, technology, engineering, and math careers among immigrants emerges well before individuals reach the labor force, manifesting in a preference for math-intensive high school courses and college majors, particularly among those who immigrate with low relative endowments in English-language skills, proxied by age at immigration and mother tongue similarity to English, according to a study.
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Article #18-12041: "Early patterns of skill acquisition and immigrants' specialization in STEM careers," by Marcos A. Rangel and Ying Shi.
MEDIA CONTACT: Marcos A. Rangel, Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy, Durham, NC; tel: 919-613-7340; e-mail: <marcos.rangel@duke.edu>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences