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What is the distribution of castes in South Asia vs South Asians that have moved to the United States? Are those of a higher caste more likely to be able to com

What is the distribution of castes in South Asia vs South Asians that have moved to the United States? Are those of a higher caste more likely to be able to come to the U.S. in the first place or do people of a lower caste move to escape the caste system?

ramraj07 4y ago
Absolutely. At least from Tamil Nadu (which alongside its neighboring state accounts for pretty much every famous Indian tech guy you might know) 30-40% (my rough estimate) of highly skilled immigrants would be Brahmin, the high caste. It’s interesting why this happens, the people in this caste have to work harder to get Higher education due to quotas biased against them, and they’re not necessarily more well off either. It’s probably a mix of a focus on education and excellence in their families that compels the children to aspire this way, alongside a community that encourages this as well I suppose. Sad that recent decade has started to radicalize more and more of them (and other castes) due to a religious fanatic government among other things, I would have loved to understand more about what caused the extraordinary success of this community in producing this many talented individuals (like the Hungarian Jewish population did before WWII).
thwy_castech 4y ago
There are different immigrant clusters around geography and industry. E.g. South indians are a majority in the Tech industry in the Bay Area, Punjabi migrants from North India work in more working class jobs - as taxi/Uber drivers and 7/11 or convenience stores clerks. And the Patel caste from the western state of Gujarat are known for their presence in the motel industry. Based on my non-scientific observation of looking at the 300+ Indian origin folks in my LinkedIn profile, the upper castes are likely 60%, though they make up 10-15% of the population in India. The "middle" castes a. k. a Other Backward Castes or the so called merchant castes make up the remaining 35% and likely are 30% of the Indian population.

ramraj07 4y ago

Absolutely. At least from Tamil Nadu (which alongside its neighboring state accounts for pretty much every famous Indian tech guy you might know) 30-40% (my rough estimate) of highly skilled immigrants would be Brahmin, the high caste. It’s interesting why this happens, the people in this caste have to work harder to get Higher education due to quotas biased against them, and they’re not necessarily more well off either. It’s probably a mix of a focus on education and excellence in their families that compels the children to aspire this way, alongside a community that encourages this as well I suppose. Sad that recent decade has started to radicalize more and more of them (and other castes) due to a religious fanatic government among other things, I would have loved to understand more about what caused the extraordinary success of this community in producing this many talented individuals (like the Hungarian Jewish population did before WWII).

thwy_castech 4y ago

There are different immigrant clusters around geography and industry. E.g. South indians are a majority in the Tech industry in the Bay Area, Punjabi migrants from North India work in more working class jobs - as taxi/Uber drivers and 7/11 or convenience stores clerks. And the Patel caste from the western state of Gujarat are known for their presence in the motel industry. Based on my non-scientific observation of looking at the 300+ Indian origin folks in my LinkedIn profile, the upper castes are likely 60%, though they make up 10-15% of the population in India. The "middle" castes a. k. a Other Backward Castes or the so called merchant castes make up the remaining 35% and likely are 30% of the Indian population.