Two groups of followers of President Donald Trump just engaged in a heated argument. The H-1B card program, a program that allows US employers to employ highly qualified foreigners in special occupations, most notably in the technology sector, is at issue.
On the one hand, there are people like Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Donald Trump, who has described the H-1B programme as a” total and complete scam.” On the other hand, there are digital tycoons, such as Elon Musk, who believe that skilled foreign workers are essential for the US tech industry.
An annual maximum of novel permits that the H-1B card program can issue is imposed by the agency, which is 65, 000 per fiscal year. Additionally, there is an additional yearly limit of 20, 000 H-1B visa for highly qualified international students who have demonstrated their ability to succeed professionally in the United States.
After graduating, foreign grad students at US institutions can stay and work there under the H-1B system. Many of the STEM research I do at Rice University is carried out by foreign graduate students. The same holds true for the majority of the country’s institutions that focus on research.
As an expatriate and a professor of computer science who studies the interaction between technology and nation, I think the H-1B argument ignores some crucial issues. Why does the US rely so heavily on foreigners for its tech sector, and why is it unable to create a local tech workforce?
Intellect pole for the world
Since before World War II, the US has been a hotspot for international medical skills.
Many of the professionals who contributed to the creation of the nuclear weapon were immigrants from Europe. US laws, such as the Fulbright Program, opened up opportunities for international academic change after World War II.
International individuals ‘ efforts to attract Americans have been successful. 40 % of Americans who have received the Nobel Prize in science, medicine, or science since 2000 are immigrants.
Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google, which are all digital economy giant, were all founded by primary- or second-generation refugees. Additionally, since 2018, refugees have founded more than half of the world’s billion-dollar companies.
maximizing the student flow
As some important Trump supporters have argued, restricting the access to foreign graduate students ‘ jobs in the US may significantly reduce global graduate students ‘ enrollment.
In the US’s computer science and engineering courses, there are approximately 18, 000 individuals from abroad, or 80 % of graduate students.
The absence of foreign doctoral students would drastically lessen the ability of grad programs in science and engineering to conduct research. In US universities, graduate students are primarily responsible for the majority of study in science and engineering, closely followed by main investigators.
It should be emphasized that international students contribute significantly to the US study result.
For instance, researchers who were born outside the US played significant roles in the creation of the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccinations. Therefore, making the US less appealing to international student learners in science and engineering did hurt US study profitability.
PhD alumni in computer science are in high demand. The lack of an sufficient home pipeline seems strange because the market requires them.
Where have kids from the US left?
Why do US science and engineering individuals need to study abroad, then? And why hasn’t America developed a sufficient network of students born in the US for its specialized workplace?
After talking with a number of colleagues, I’ve discovered that there are just not enough qualified local graduate applicants to fill the gaps in their postgraduate programs.
For instance, US computer science doctoral programs admitted 3,400 new kids in 2023, of which 63 % were foreigners.
It appears that many US undergrad computer science students are not interested enough in the postgraduate career path. But why?
Silicon Valley’s leading annual income for recent computer science graduates is reportedly US$ 115, 000. Prior to recently, Rice University’s computer engineering bachelor’s degree holders have reported that they were receiving starting annual salaries in Silicon Valley as high as$ 150, 000.
Unlike research universities, graduate students do not get a salary. They are rather given a allowance. These vary slightly from one school to the next, but they typically cost less than$ 40, 000 annually. Therefore, the opportunity cost of getting a doctorate is up to$ 100, 000 annually. And it normally takes six times to get a degree.
Therefore, some Americans don’t have the financial means to pursue a degree. A graduate education does, in fact, open up new career options for the holder, but the majority of those with bachelor’s degrees do not go beyond economics. Silicon Valley’s success depends a lot on intellectual computing research, but it is essential.
According to a 2016 analysis of the information systems areas with significant financial impact, scientific research is crucial to their growth.
Why so much?
China and the US are at odds with one another because they are both focused on industrial dominance. Therefore, maintaining its research-and-development advantage is in the country’s best attention.
Nevertheless, the US has declined to invest the necessary amount in studies. For instance, the National Science Foundation’s annual budget for computer and information science and engineering is roughly$ 1 billion. In contrast, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has spent close to$ 50 billion on annual research and development costs for the past ten years.
Colleges are paying doctoral students but less because they can’t afford to pay more.
The US has discovered a way to meet its scientific study needs by recruiting and admitting foreign pupils, but instead of acknowledging the existence of this issue and making efforts to address it.
The US has been able to ignore the national graduate pipeline’s inadequateness due to the steady flow of highly qualified global candidates. The US has a chance to reflect on the H-1B immigration technique as of right now, thanks to the discussion.
However, the National Science Foundation’s announcement of enormous budget cuts in Washington, DC, suggests that the federal government is about to turn an chronic issue into a crisis.
Professor of Computer Science at Rice University, Moshe Y. Vardi
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