Folium: A Surprising Explanation For Why Some Immigrants Excel In Science via NPR

Posted by on Thursday, August 20, 2020 · Leave a Comment 

A Surprising Explanation For Why Some Immigrants Excel In Science

Folium: A Surprising Explanation For Why Some Immigrants Excel In Science via NPR

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What is it that causes many people with foreign roots to excel in STEM disciplines?

What biases and prejudices do I have about those of foreign roots/descent?

According to American Immigration Council, “Workers in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) play an increasingly important role in the U.S. economy. STEM occupations are critical to the country’s innovation, and STEM workers are responsible for many of the cutting-edge ideas and technologies that create jobs and raise the living standards of U.S. households. Foreign-born workers make up a growing share of the country’s STEM workforce.”

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Overreaching stereotypes have seemed to creep into the minds of native-born Americans that people from Asia are good at math, and people from India all study to be engineers or doctors. There are groups that are constantly working to break down these myths and stereotypes. Think about what you have grown up with to believe about foreign-born students growing up.

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Asian Doesn’t Start with A+ | Olivia Lai via YouTube/TEDx

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For me, I lived in a culturally rich and diverse area of the United States where I was exposed to many people of different countries and backgrounds. I was often fed the idea by some of my North American peers that some of those people did not fit in with us native-born Americans because they thought themselves to be smarter (thus better) than us because they excelled in areas of science, technology, engineering and math. Reflecting back, I recognize where that idea may have stemmed from. Many of the foreign students took on projects that required one or all of those skills, in which they were very proficient. But they may have had a lack of proficiency in communication skills, specifically in the English language. This idea built up prejudices in the minds of youngsters, creating the idea that those that came from other countries, especially those of Asian or Indian descent had an inclination or an upper hand on opportunities in the field of STEM when instead they chose to focus more on the “universal language” of math or science which transcends language barriers.

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83 Percent of the United States’ Top High School Science Students Have Immigrant Parents

According to the National Foundation for American Policy,
83 Percent of the United States’ Top High School Science Students Have Immigrant Parents

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Many of our biases are informed by stereotypes – generalized ideas and images about groups of people. According to a new study published in the journal Demography led by an economist at Duke University, Rangel and his co-author Marigee Bacolod of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, looked at U.S. Census data for young adults. Their study concluded that of those who arrived to the U.S. before age 18, “Among the subset of immigrants who attended college, the ones who arrived later and from more linguistically distinct places – (think the Vietnamese teen, not the German toddler) – were many times more likely to major in a STEM field.” This throws out the juvenile and uneducated guess that just because these immigrants were from Asian or Indian countries or descent, that they were more inclined to better take on tasks in the field of STEM. “If it were just as easy for me to write with my left hand as with my right, I would be using both. But no, I specialize,” Rangel says.

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  • 23% : The share of all undergraduates with at least one parent who is an immigrant.
  • 25% : The percentage of Asian immigrants and their American-born offspring majoring in STEM fields.
  • 14% : The percentage of Latino immigrants and those born here majoring in STEM fields.
  • 25% : The share of first- and second-generation Latinos majoring in humanities, social sciences, and general studies.
  • 21% : The percentage of first- and second-generation Asians majoring in humanities, social sciences, and general studies.
  • 38% : The percentage of Latinos with at least one immigrant parent who are low-income, contrasted with 32% of Asian-Americans.
  • 54% : The percentage of second-generation Latinos whose parents are without a college education, compared to 28% of their Asian counterparts.
  • 18% : The percentage of Latino immigrants who say English is the primary language spoken at home, compared to 26% of Asian immigrants.
  • 21.5% : The share of second-generation Latino undergrads under age 30 who took calculus in high school.
    (Those who complete advanced courses in high school are more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree, the study says.)
  • 46% : The share of second-generation Asian-Americans who took calculus in high school.
  • 52% : The percentage of Latino immigrants who ever took at least one remedial college course.
  • 40% : The percentage of Asian immigrants who ever enrolled in at least one remedial college course.
  • (U.S. Department of Education – New Americans in Post-Secondary Education via NCES.ED.GOV)

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STEM Immigrant Voices Book Trailer via Youtube/GreenCardVoices

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Instead of playing perpetual catch-up in English class, some students may prefer to get ahead in the universal language of mathematics. Rangel, who came here from Brazil as a young father, saw this dynamic play out in his own family. “The younger one, who went to Pre-K in English, is different from my kid who came at five already reading Portuguese,” he says. The older one is more inclined toward math.” Recognizing these cognitive prejudices and biases in yourself can help reduce misunderstandings, and will help you better understand the intentions of foreign-born Americans excelling in the field of STEM.

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What experiences have you had studying, living, and working with people from other countries?

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Julie Thatcher
LEAF Contributor

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