Who Are The Innovators In The US?

This is a rather interesting study that I haven't seen before. It surveys people who are considered to be innovators and the US to see who they really are and what their backgrounds area.

This study surveys people who are responsible for some of the most important innovations in America. These include people who have won national awards for their inventions, people who have filed for international, triadic patents for their innovative ideas in three technology areas (information technology, life sciences, and materials sciences), and innovators who have filed triadic patents for large advanced-technology companies. In total, 6,418 innovators were contacted for this report, and 923 provided viable responses. This diverse, yet focused sampling approach enables a broad, yet nuanced examination of individuals driving innovation in the United States.

I wish the sampling is larger, but it is what it is. What they found is quite fascinating, especially when framed with the current US political climate on immigration:

• More than one-third (35.5 percent) of U.S. innovators were born outside the United States, even though this population makes up just 13.5 percent of all U.S. residents.

• Another 10 percent of innovators were born in the United States but have at least one parent born abroad.

• More than 17 percent of innovators are not U.S. citizens, yet they are making invaluable contributions to U.S. innovation.

• Immigrants born in Europe or Asia are more than five times as likely as the average native-born U.S. citizen to have created an innovation in America.

• Immigrant innovators also are better educated on average than native-born innovators, with over two-thirds holding doctorates in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)

I think there's plenty of evidence to show that the US has, throughout its history, depends on immigration of some of the brightest and most innovative individuals around. The question is how to encourage that without abusing the system and replacing US workers, the way the H1-B visa has been abused. That visa program was supposed to bring in high-skilled workers into areas in which there is a shortage of US workers. Unfortunately, that has been used by many companies for what it was prohibited from doing, i.e. replacing US workers with foreign workers that have regular skills not in short supply.

At the same time, we also must keep in mind that dumping the baby out with the bath water isn't the solution either. This survey clearly shows that when it is done right, it has significant benefits to the US economy, even if one take a very conservative approach to the result of the survey. We need a smart, thoughtful, and rational approach to this. Do you think your politicians have such skills to make that type of a decision?

Zz.