Policy Research

Does Immigration Affect whether U.S. Natives Major in Science and Engineering?

Pia Orrenius, Madeline Zavodny

Summary

The article attempts to estimate the effects an increase in immigration has on U.S. native’s enrollment in STEM fields in college. Ultimately the study finds that increases in immigration have no significant effects on native men’s enrollment in STEM fields, however as immigration rates increase, native born women show a significant decrease in STEM field enrollment rates. The article details a couple possible explanations for this including the fact that women who enroll in STEM fields tend to not decide so until college, where having a higher percentage of foreign born students in class may put the students lower in the grade distribution. This is opposed to men who more often decide on their college field before attending their first classes. Similarly, another possible explanation is that immigrants tend to want to enroll in schools specializing in STEM fields so there may be a crowding out effect altering women’s school choice.

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Policy Implications

This article can be used in creating policy to try and counteract or balance the effects of increasing immigration on native women’s STEM enrollment rate. However, the article mentions that policies to reduce immigration rates may be ill advised because of the benefits these students bring. With this in mind, policy based on incentivizing women into STEM fields may be most appropriate.