One of our readers, Elena Verlee with Onlinedegrees.org shares her thoughts on the 12 Hottest STEM Fields for New Grads that may help new grads find a job in this turbulent economic environment.
STEM is getting considerable coverage as a result of the recently proposed STAPLE Act, which would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize certain aliens who have earned a Ph.D. degree from a United States institution of higher education in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics to be admitted for permanent residence and to be exempted from the numerical limitations on H-1B nonimmigrants.
Our recent blog post Should Foreign STEM Graduates Get Green Cards? provides insight to proponents and opponents of the bill. Proponents see the growth of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, known collectively as STEM, to be crucial in keeping the United States competitive on the global stage and fueling strong economic growth. Supporters also argue that immigrants who come to the United States to learn about the sciences should be encouraged to stay here once they have graduated. They fear that otherwise, foreign STEM grads will take their skills and education to their home countries, costing America the opportunity for job-creating innovation.
Opponents say this and similar measures would have the opposite effect, taking jobs away from Americans and supressing wages in the fields. They believe there are better ways to overhaul our dysfunctional immigration system and that STEM industries have plenty of US labor without foreign graduates.
In a related blog post promoting Fareed Zakaria's prime-time special: "Global Lessons: The GPS Roadmap for Making Immigration Work, Fareed looks around the world for insightful immigration policies in Japan, Europe, and Canada – and explores what the United States can learn from each.
Provocative and insightful...
