Importance of International STEM Student Attraction, Retention
Attracting and retaining talented workers is a critical element in a technology-based economy. In the U.S., a major source of this talent comes from international students, many of whom stay in the United States to work after graduation – especially in STEM industries. New research from economists at the University of California at Santa Barbara examines why international students may choose to study in the U.S., as well as what compels them to either remain in the country or go elsewhere after earning their degrees.
University-led strategies to retain international students beyond graduation
Due to their positive impact on entrepreneurship (31 percent of VC-backed founders are immigrants) and innovation (76 percent of patents from top 10 U.S.
Due to their positive impact on entrepreneurship (31 percent of VC-backed founders are immigrants) and innovation (76 percent of patents from top 10 U.S. patent-producing universities had at least one foreign-born author) in the United States, many institutions of higher education are working to understand the opportunities, challenges, and gaps that exist in supporting international students from their first year of study through graduation, the job search process, and entry into the labor force. Institutions of higher education are seen as uniquely positioned to enhance international students’ employability as they provide access to work experience as well as cultural acclimation to increase the likelihood those individuals will remain in their host country after graduation.
First- and second-generation immigrants making up larger portion of higher education enrollment
In 2018, 5.8 million students at colleges and universities within the United States were either the children of first-generation immigrants or were immigrants themselves, which accounted for 28 percent of the total student population and was a noticeable increase from the 2.9 million enrolled in 2000. This data serves as the foundation of a new report from the Migration Policy Institute, Immigrant-Origin Students in U.S.
Recent Research: High-skilled immigrant entrepreneurs create a positive effect on U.S. entrepreneurial ecosystem
Two recent working papers — The Impact of High-Skilled Immigration on Regional Entrepreneurship from Columbia University and Getting Schooled: The Role of Universities in Attracting Immigrant Entrepreneurs from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank — explore the impact of high-skilled immigrants on entrepreneurship and how universities attract immigrant entrepreneurs. Both papers find that high-skilled immigrants have a positive net effect on regional entrepreneurship and are critical to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.