The Asian and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander STEM Workforce

Fact Sheet 2013

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Asians comprise the largest minority group in most science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations.  Over the last 10 years, their most significant increase in density has been among Asians in computer-related occupations.  College graduation data indicates that many of these new workers are not U.S. citizens.  Despite the drastic increase in density, which would indicate abundant job opportunities, Asians in some computer-related occupations have been hit hard by high rates of unemployment.

Asian STEM Workforce

Between 2003 and 2012 Asians increased their density in professional and related occupations by 1.5 percent (from 6.3 to 7.8 percent), that’s approximately 680,000 new Asian professionals.[1]  In STEM occupations from 2003 to 2012:

• Asian density in architecture and engineering occupations increased by 2.1 percent (from 8.7 to 10.8 percent).
• Asian density in business and financial operations occupations increased by 1.8 percent (from 5.6 to 7.4 percent);
• Among life, physical, and social science occupations, Asians saw a 0.4 percent decline (from 10.3 to 9.9 percent); and
• Among computer and mathematics occupations, Asians increased their density by 4.6 percent (from 12.9 to 17.5 percent).[2]  Computer programming occupations had one of the largest density increases, 5.8 percent.

The Computer Science Education Pipeline

On average, Asians earn fewer degrees in computer science than Blacks and Hispanics, yet Asians have far outpaced these minorities in computer-related employment.  Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents:

• In 2010, 3,015 Bachelor’s degrees were awarded to Asians in computer science.  Hispanics earned 109 more computer science Bachelor’s degrees than Asians and African Americans earned 1,051 more degrees than Asians.
• In 2010, Asian students earned 1,521 Associate’s degrees in computer sciences. This was 1,816 fewer than Hispanics and 2,257 fewer than African Americans.
• Also in 2010, Asian students earned 1,470 Master’s degrees in computer sciences, 819 more than Hispanics and 359 more than African Americans.[3]

Unemployment

• In December 2012, Asian and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander computer programmers had a 10.2 percent unemployment rate.[4]
• In January 2013, the unemployment rate for Asian and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander computer programmers was 8.1 percent.
• In January 2013, the unemployment rate for Asian and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander computer systems analysts was 4.7 percent (full employment is considered to have an unemployment rate around two percent).

The H-1B Workforce

• From 2003 to 2011, nearly 430,000 initial H-1B guest worker visas were issued to employers to hire guest workers in computer-related occupations.[5]
• In 2011, 62 percent (66,137) of initial H-1B visas went to workers from India and China.
• The vast majority (approximately 380,000 visas) of the H-1B visas were issued for guest workers in systems analysis and computer programming, precisely the occupations that have the highest rates of unemployment.