Communications of the ACM
Immigrants Are Crucial to Innovation, Study Says
Wenyuan Shi, a native of China, earned a patent in 2011 for the active ingredient in a lollipop that can help prevent tooth decay.
Credit: UCLA School of Dentistry
Immigrants played a role in more than three out of four patents at the top U.S. research universities, according to a study by the nonprofit Partnership for a New American Economy. Of these patents, nearly all were in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields that help spur job growth.
The study sought to measure the potential costs of immigration policies by examining 1,469 patents from 10 universities and university systems that obtained the most patents in 2011. The schools included the University of California system, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The study's authors say patents are a barometer of a nation's level of innovation and a key way for the United States to maintain an edge in STEM fields.
The study found that nine out of 10 patents at the University of Illinois system in 2011, for example, had at least one foreign-born inventor. Of those, 64 percent had a foreign inventor who was not yet a professor but instead a student, researcher, or postdoctoral fellow, who are more likely to be subject to immigration restrictions. The study also found that although many leading foreign-born innovators are trained at U.S. universities, they frequently leave the country following graduation due to such obstacles.
From The New York Times
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