The gendered occupational value of a U.S. education for skilled Indian immigrants
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Author | Elizabeth Jacobs,A. Nicole Kreisberg |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12970 |
148
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International Migration. 2022;60:148–166.
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
INTRODUCTION
Gender and nativit y remain important axes of stratification in the U.S. labo ur market. Women and immigrants
continue to trail n ative- born men in earnings and o ccupational status, and t he promise of a college educati on still
falls sho rt in overcom ing this gend er and nativ ity gap. O n average, men hold more prestigious o ccupations and
earn more than women, and the gend er gap in earnings widens at higher levels of educatio nal attainment (DiPrete
& Buchmann, 2013; England, 2 010). Immigrants with hig h levels of human capital often experience stalled or
Received: 23 Jun e 2021
|
Revised: 1 Novembe r 2021
|
Accepted: 20 Dece mber 2021
DOI: 10.1111/imig.12970
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The gendered occupational value of a U.S.
education for skilled Indian immigrants
Elizabeth Jacobs1 | A. Nicole Kreisberg2
© 2022 The Auth ors. Internation al Migration © 2022 IO M
1Georgetown Uni versity, Washingto n,
District of C olumbia, USA
2Harvard Un iversity, Cambri dge, USA
Correspondence
Elizabeth Ja cobs, McCourt Sc hool of Public
Policy, George town University, 37th an d O
Streets, NW, Wash ington, DC 20057, USA .
Email: elizabeth.jacobs@georgetown.edu
Funding information
Center for the St udy of Race and Ethnici ty,
Universit y of Pennsylvania.
Abstract
This article revisits conventional understandings of gender
differences in occupational attainment through the con-
text of highly s killed legal migration in the United States.
Drawing on a unique combination of nationally represent a-
tive survey data of Indian lawful permanent residents and
in- depth interviews with skilled Indian migrant s h olding
employer- sponsored visas, we find that a U.S. education
has a large premium in occupationa l prestige scores in the
global labour market and has the power to mitigate t he
gende r gap in immi grant occu pationa l attainm ent. U.S . cre-
dentials, social networks, and mentorship programs h elp
drive the occupational prestige- generating function of a
U.S. edu cation for highly skilled Indian immigrant women.
This articl e demonstrates aggregate occupational patterns
among a nat ionally repr esentative sa mple of Indian pe rma-
nent resident s and develops an in- depth under standing of
the process of occupational attainment. Our findings offer
new insights into fa ctors that mitigate gender ine quality in
the high- skilled immigrant la bour force.
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149
THE GENDERED OCC UPATIONAL VALUE OF US EDUCATION
downward occup ational mobility after migrating (Chi swick et al., 2003; Rooth & Ekberg, 20 06). Moreover, in the
United States, imm igrants with foreign degr ees earn less than those wit h U.S. degrees (Lancee & Bol , 2017; Tong,
2010; Zeng & Xi e, 2004).
However, it is not clear h ow and in what ways migrant s’ educatio nal locatio n might mediate the gendered
occupational stratification of U.S. migrants a cross different in dustries. As t he labour force cont inues to feminise
and im migrants ma ke up an increasing share of the sk illed workfo rce in one of t he world's largest economies,
it is important to re- examine the occupationa l gender ga p in the context of highly educa ted U.S. la bour migra-
tion (Kofman, 2 013; Raghuram, 20 07; Walton- Robert s, 2020). Does a U.S. education have the p ower to mitigate
known gender dis parities in occupationa l attainment?
We shed new light on this que stion by analysin g the occupationa l attainment of college- educated Ind ian mi-
grant men and women hol ding work visas . This articl e explores how even the most positively sele cted migrants
with the hig hest leve ls of educational attainme nt experi ence inequ ality in occupatio nal pres tige on the basis
of pla ce of e ducation an d gender. Previous work on im migrant sele ctivity and gender suggests that po sitively
selected Indian migra nt men fare better t han Indian m igrant women in the U. S. labour market, but it is uncle ar
whether or how foreign degrees might mediate this relationship (Feliciano, 2005; Lancee & Bol, 2017; Zeng & Xie,
2004). Thus, it remains to be seen whether and to what extent gender differences in occupat ional attainment exist
among foreign- versus U.S.- educ ated immigrants on work visas . This article examines wheth er there is a premium
to a U.S. education in occupationa l prestige, whether this premium varies by gender, and what factor s help explain
this relationship.
To answer these ques tions, we analyse bot h quantitative and qua litative data to levera ge insights from diffe r-
ent perspec tives. To address our firs t two questions on t he premium of a U.S. educ ation and moderatio n by gen-
der, we use nation ally representati ve survey data of In dian immigrants wh o received employer- sponsore d lawful
permanent reside nce in 2003. We find that a U.S. degree gives immigr ants a large occupational prestige in the U.S.
labour market and helps close the occupational gender gap am ong highly skilled legal immigrants. To address our
third questio n on the factors explaining thi s relationship, we use in- depth inter view data of 43 Indian migrants on
temporar y skilled work visas and imm igration lawyers.1
The article begins with a review of relevant literature on labo ur market stratification in the context of gender
and place of education. We re- exam ine prior work on immigrant occupat ional inequality from a gender perspective
among a growing sh are of the global workforce that is increasingly prio ritised in migration poli cies. Presentations
of the data, empir ical strategy, and the result s follow. We then discuss the finding s and draw broader conclusion s
ab out pr omi sin g mec han ism s mit iga tin g gen der ineq ual it y in th e occ upa tio nal ou tco mes of hig h- skil led immi gra nts .
LITERATURE REVIEW
Disparities in the labour market value of a college degree: gender and place of education
While col lege degrees generally tr anslate to la bour market success, foreig n- educ ated migrants often see lower
educational ret urns (Torche, 2011; Zeng & Xie, 2004). Pr evious wo rk consi stentl y shows tha t foreig n degree h old-
ers earn less than U.S.- educated migrants in the U.S. labour market, an d this dynamic persists across degree leve ls
(Lancee & Bol, 2 017; Shir mohammadi et al., 2017; Tong, 2010). Migrants with foreign deg rees also h ave higher
rates of unemployment a nd are less frequently e mployed in the field where they earned their degre e (Arbeit &
Warren, 2013).
Similarly, wo men see lower occupational payoffs to th eir education. While women's educational attainment
has outpaced that of men, a gender gap in wages and occupational prestige persists, and the trend towards con-
vergence has stalled (Cha & Weeden, 2014; DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013; England , 2010). Bachelor's degree holders
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