Module 10 Media Reflection

This article showcases data that displays that the immigrants that are moving to the United States are becoming more skilled and educated.  The article breaks down different immigrant groups that can be found in the United States and shows the data related to the individual groups.  It begins by acknowledging that immigrants in the U.S. are significantly less likely to be employed in high skilled jobs when compared to their U.S. born counterparts.  The author establishes the different skill groups that are part of high skill jobs as social skills, fundamental skills, analytical skills, managerial skills, and mechanical skills.  Next the author compares data from 1995 about the immigrant populations working in jobs within these skill groups to data from 2018.  Here it is evident that there has been growth in immigrants working in jobs that require these skills over these 23 years.  Mechanical skills are the only area that there was not a growth from 1995 to 2018.  This is explained, “this move toward high-skill occupations is due in part to a rising level of education among immigrants overall. In 2018, 34% of immigrants ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or more education, up from 22% in 1995” (Bennett, 2020).  The last section of the article analyzes employment in highly skilled jobs based on the racial groups of immigrants.  This section is particularly interesting because it shows that in the United States Asian and White immigrants are more likely to work in non-mechanical high-skill jobs.  This section also discusses that Hispanic immigrants are more likely to be employed in lower skilled non-mechanical jobs.  

This research connects to many of the topics that came up in the video Migration Inside and Outside Africa by Al Jazeera.  During this conversation, the presenters spoke several times about how the skills of a workforce impact migration patterns.  During this discussion, one of the presenters said, “economic growth requires skilled migrants” (Al Jazeera).  This shows the importance of creating a skilled group of workers, that includes immigrants.   The panel speaks extensively about how education and skills development are important to create a thriving economy that is inclusive of immigrants.  They also spoke about creating jobs with different skill requirements within their countries so that they can utilize people who have different skill backgrounds.  It seems that these ideas could be applied in the U.S. as well.  In the U.S. it seems that we need to continue developing our education and skills development programs for immigrants so that they can find meaningful employment that will be able to support them and their families.  It seems that it is especially important to be creating these opportunities for Black and Hispanic immigrants, as they are the groups that seem to be facing the most challenges in accessing skill development programs and finding highly skilled jobs.

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