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I don't really get the industry-picking idea of the STEM visa. Not every area of STEM has high demand, and not every area of the rest of the economy lacks deman
by mjn 14y ago
I don't really get the industry-picking idea of the STEM visa. Not every area of STEM has high demand, and not every area of the rest of the economy lacks demand. Why not have some kind of points system like Canada's?
For example, it's much easier to find an American mathematician or physicist than to find good elder-care staff (there's something of a glut of physicists, and shortage of elder-care workers). Yet this reform would propose singling out pure mathematicians and physicists for preferential immigration, while not allowing an elder-care worker to immigrate on the same terms?
- jlgreco 14y agoIn the specific case of mathematicians and physicists, I suspect there was some strategic consideration beyond merely market demand. The more mathematicians and physicists you have, the fewer anybody else has. "Brain drain" can harm perceived competitors even if you don't necessarily have anything to do with your extra brains. In the more general case though, the STEM system is just designed to make it easier to get the people deemed more important, just like the Canadian system. The only way that they differ is that perhaps the Canadian system determines importance more accurately. I am sure the STEM system wasn't intentionally made worse, that's just the sort of thing that happens sometimes.