How do key demographic, skill, and employment characteristics of college-educated U.S. immigrants differ from their native-born counterparts? Do greater skills always translate to better employment? What other factors moderate the relationship between skill level and economic integration?
Presenters: Dr. Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix, Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Discussant: Dr. Roberto Suro, University of Southern California
Moderator: Dr. Monica Mean, U.S. Department of Labor
Please register to join us on December 15th, 2022, 12:30pm-1:45pm for a presentation and discussion on findings from a recent Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) research paper authored by Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix. Using combined 2012/14/17 U.S. PIAAC data from over 12,000 participants, the presenters explore relationships between cognitive skills, employment, and numerous other factors pertaining to the varied economic integration of college-educated U.S. immigrants.
Between 1990 and 2019, the percentage of U.S adults that are college educated rose from 20% to 33%. Among individuals who have immigrated to the U.S. recently, this percent rose from 27% to 48% between 1990-2019. Still, certain skill discrepancies are observed in the PIAAC data. Combined with additional barriers to economic integration such as citizenship issues and lack of social or professional networks, Migrant Policy Institute estimates $40 billion in forgone wages by underutilized immigrant workers. This paper highlights encouraging aspects of the state of immigrant economic integration, including their greater average monthly earnings than U.S. born, college-educated adults.
Registrants will have the opportunity to participate in small and large group discussions during the webinar.