S&E fields and the general U.S. economy have long included and benefited from the contributions of foreign-born workers (Abramitzky and Boustan 2017; Kerr and Kerr 2017; Khanna and Lee 2020; Rovito, Kaushik, and Aggarwal 2021). Additionally, NSB’s Vision 2030 report recognizes the importance of the U.S. international STEM talent in maintaining its lead in research and bolstering the workforce of the future (NSB 2020). This section provides an analysis of foreign-born STEM workers, including their demographic composition. It examines the proportion of foreign-born workers in STEM occupations (by degree level) and estimates rates of intentions to stay as well as actual stay rates among U.S.-trained doctoral recipients.

Foreign-born STEM workers are defined as those STEM workers born outside of the United States who were not citizens by birth.^{​Individuals who are born outside of the United States but are citizens by birth usually have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen and include many people who are born to U.S. military or foreign service personnel stationed abroad. These individuals have no restrictions on entering the United States, and unlike those born abroad without U.S. citizenship, they do not need to get a visa for work or school.Individuals who are born outside of the United States but are citizens by birth usually have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen and include many people who are born to U.S. military or foreign service personnel stationed abroad. These individuals have no restrictions on entering the United States, and unlike those born abroad without U.S. citizenship, they do not need to get a visa for work or school.} In 2021, 17% of all civilian workers (26,546,400 people) and 19% of STEM workers were foreign born (7,023,900 people),^{​Consistent with the rest of the report, foreign-born STEM workers are non-institutionalized civilians ages 16–75 years who are employed in the United States.Consistent with the rest of the report, foreign-born STEM workers are non-institutionalized civilians ages 16–75 years who are employed in the United States.} according to the ACS (Table SLBR-25).^{​Analyses using the ACS will show this population divided by naturalized citizens (14,044,900) and noncitizens (12,501,500) and includes the STW. Analyses using the NSCG, Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), and SDR allow for the noncitizen, foreign-born S&E or S&E-related workers to be further disaggregated by permanent resident and temporary visa holders but do not include the STW or middle-skill occupations. These data sources will be used in combination to highlight different aspects of the foreign-born STEM workforce. A very small number of individuals in the NSCG reported being born in the United States and responded that they were not U.S. citizens; because these individuals were born in the United States, they are counted with the U.S-born population.Analyses using the ACS will show this population divided by naturalized citizens (14,044,900) and noncitizens (12,501,500) and includes the STW. Analyses using the NSCG, Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), and SDR allow for the noncitizen, foreign-born S&E or S&E-related workers to be further disaggregated by permanent resident and temporary visa holders but do not include the STW or middle-skill occupations. These data sources will be used in combination to highlight different aspects of the foreign-born STEM workforce. A very small number of individuals in the NSCG reported being born in the United States and responded that they were not U.S. citizens; because these individuals were born in the United States, they are counted with the U.S-born population.} Over a quarter (26%) of foreign-born workers employed in the United States worked in STEM occupations. There are three subsets for the foreign-born population: noncitizens who live in the United States on visas (temporary visa holders), those with permanent resident status (or Green Cards), and foreign-born workers who have become U.S. citizens (naturalized citizens).

Foreign-born STEM workers’ occupational characteristics vary by citizenship status and are distinct from U.S.-born STEM workers. Of foreign-born workers, a larger percentage were employed in STEM occupations (26%) than the percentage of U.S.-born workers (24%) (Table SLBR-25). Similarly, both naturalized and noncitizen foreign-born workers worked in STEM occupations at slightly higher rates (28% and 25%, respectively) than U.S.-born workers (24%) did. Proportionally, more naturalized citizen workers (11%) worked in S&E-related occupations than noncitizen workers (5%) or U.S.-born citizen workers (9%). Additionally, larger proportions of noncitizens worked in STEM middle-skill occupations (12%) than naturalized citizens (8%) or U.S.-born workers (9%) (Figure LBR-13).

There are 24 countries or economies of origin that each contributed 1% or more of the foreign-born STEM workforce (Table SLBR-26).^{​For this ACS analysis, country or economy of origin is the birthplace of the individual.For this ACS analysis, country or economy of origin is the birthplace of the individual.} Together, these 24 countries or economies accounted for about 75% of all foreign-born STEM workers. Of all foreign-born STEM workers, 18% were born in Mexico, followed by 14% born in India, 7% in China, and 6% in the Philippines. Within the different portions of the STEM occupations, country or economy of origin varies for foreign-born workers. For example, the largest proportion of foreign-born STEM middle-skill workers were born in Mexico (40%). Of foreign-born S&E workers, 29% were born in India, and 13% were born in China. Among S&E-related foreign-born workers, 13% were born in the Philippines, and another 12% were born in India.

The proportion of foreign-born STEM workers overall and with a bachelor’s degree or higher was similar in 2021 and 2019 (NSB Indicators 2022: Figure LBR-31; Table SLBR-25). In 2021, there were over 7 million (7,023,900) foreign-born STEM workers (or 19% of all STEM workers); almost 4 million (3,931,400) held a bachelor’s degree, of whom 3,621,200 worked in S&E or S&E-related occupations according to the ACS (Table SLBR-25). The NSCG, which applies a survey coverage and occupation classification that are different from the ACS, estimates that there are about 3,937,700 foreign-born S&E or S&E-related workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher, or 23% of STEM workers (Table SLBR-27). The rest of this section is based on the NSCG estimates.

Overall, about 60% of foreign-born S&E or S&E-related workers are U.S. citizens (Table SLBR-27). Of the other 40%, some 22% were temporary visa holders, and 18% were permanent residents. Overall, for S&E and S&E-related occupation fields, more workers were foreign-born citizens than temporary visa holders, although there is variation in proportions of foreign-born workers’ citizenship status across S&E fields. For example, computer and mathematical scientists was the largest S&E or S&E-related occupation field for temporary visa holders, employing 32% of workers with temporary visas. Among permanent residents, 20% worked in S&E-related occupations, although 3% of workers in S&E-related occupations were permanent residents.

The prevalence of foreign-born individuals also varied by degree level. Larger proportions of doctoral degree holders in S&E occupations were foreign born (43%) than either master’s degree holders (37%) or bachelor’s degree holders (19%) (Figure LBR-14). This was also true for all S&E occupation groups. Further, among S&E occupation groups, more than 50% of doctorate holders that worked as computer and mathematical scientists (58%) and engineers (56%) were foreign born.

Stay rates of U.S.-trained scientists and engineers provide insights into whether foreign-born individuals remain in the United States after earning their degrees. NSB’s Vision 2030 report suggests that attracting and retaining global talent are necessary for the United States to remain competitive in S&E fields and that stay rates are critical indicators for understanding how well the United States is retaining global talent (NSB 2020). Stay rates help policymakers understand the degree to which U.S.-trained S&E doctorates contribute to the U.S. economy. Countries such as the United Kingdom, China, and Canada have implemented programs to attract international STEM talent, which could impact stay rates in the United States (Rovito, Kaushik, and Aggarwal 2021). For the remainder of this section, the focus is on individuals on temporary visas at the time they earned their research doctorates in science, engineering, and health (SEH) fields.^{​The SED provides intentions to stay, and the SDR—a subset of former SED respondents—allows calculation of stay rates for temporary visa-holding doctorate holders; these are data that other surveys focusing on the U.S. labor market cannot estimate.The SED provides intentions to stay, and the SDR—a subset of former SED respondents—allows calculation of stay rates for temporary visa-holding doctorate holders; these are data that other surveys focusing on the U.S. labor market cannot estimate.}

The intent-to-stay rate among research doctorate recipients remained relatively stable over the last decade, although the number of research doctorate recipients intending to stay increased due to an increase in temporary visa-holding new doctorates (Table SLBR-28; NCSES SED 2021: Table 1-6, Table 1-7, Table 1-8). Thus, the number of new SEH doctorates planning to stay in the United States was about 9,900 higher in the 4-year period of 2018–21 compared with 2010–13 due to the overall increase of about 12,200 temporary visa-holding doctorate recipients in SEH fields (Table SLBR-28; NCSES SED 2021: Table 1-8, Table 1-9). At the same time, the proportion of temporary visa-holding SEH research doctorate recipients with definite commitments to stay increased between the 2010–13 period (47%) and the 2018–21 period (53%).^{​Students who are Saudi Arabian nationals have notably lower levels of intent to stay than other students. This could be related to programs that fund their education abroad for those with the intent to return to Saudi Arabia. See https://educationusa.state.gov/scholarships/scholarships-available-saudi-students and Alkubaidi and Alzhrani (2020).Students who are Saudi Arabian nationals have notably lower levels of intent to stay than other students. This could be related to programs that fund their education abroad for those with the intent to return to Saudi Arabia. See https://educationusa.state.gov/scholarships/scholarships-available-saudi-students and Alkubaidi and Alzhrani (2020).}

While intentions to stay provide insight at the time of degree completion, the 5- and 10-year stay rates for SEH research doctorate recipients from earlier graduation cohorts show the longer-term retention of doctorate-holding scientists and engineers. Across all countries of citizenship and SEH degree fields, the 5-year stay rate was 71% in 2021, and the 10-year stay rate was 65% (Figure LBR-15). While the 5-year stay rate in 2021 was similar to that of 2017 (the last time stay rates could be calculated from the SDR), the 10-year stay rate declined from 72% in 2017 to 65% in 2021.

Stay rates varied by both field of doctoral degree and country, economy, or region of citizenship (Table LBR-4). The 5- and 10-year stay rates of doctorate recipients with temporary visas were similar (just over 70%) in both the biological, agricultural, health, and environmental life sciences and in engineering. Yet for doctorates in computer and mathematical sciences, the 5- and 10-year stay rates were quite different—the 5-year stay rate was 79%, whereas the 10-year stay rate was 63%.

While there were fewer temporary visa holders who received doctorates in the social sciences, these doctorate holders had the lowest 5-year (53%) and 10-year stay rates (41%), with under 50% remaining in the United States 10 years after earning a doctorate. Turning to the country, economy, or region of citizenship of doctorate recipients, those with Chinese citizenship had higher 5- and 10-year stay rates (88% and 81%, respectively) than the overall population of temporary visa-holding doctorate recipients, as did those with Indian citizenship (79% and 77%, respectively).