Skill deficits among foreign-educated immigrants: Evidence from the U.S. PIAAC.

Autor/in	Richwine, Jason
Titel	Skill deficits among foreign-educated immigrants: Evidence from the U.S. PIAAC. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Qualifikationsdefizite bei Einwanderern mit ausländischem Bildungsabschluss: Beweise aus dem U.S. PIAAC.
Quelle	In: PLOS ONE, 17 (2022) 8, S. 1-19 PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2) Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1932-6203
DOI	10.1371/journal.pone.0273910
URN	urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-85978-4
Schlagwörter	Kompetenz; Bildungsdefizit; Bildungsniveau; Lesen; Rechnen; Qualifikationsniveau; Migrant; USA
Abstract	Researchers have long observed that foreign-educated immigrants earn lower wages and hold less-skilled jobs than U.S. natives who have the same level of educational attainment, but the reasons for the disparity have been less clear. This paper tests the hypothesis favored by the human capital model of earnings and employment-namely, that foreign-educated immigrants struggle in the U.S. labor market primarily because they possess fewer marketable skills than workers with U.S. degrees. Standardized tests administered as part of the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies reveal that foreign-educated immigrants score 0.82 and 0.54 standard deviations lower on measures of literacy and numeracy, respectively, compared to natives who have the same age and educational attainment. The gaps remain significant after controlling for self-assessed English reading ability. When these skill measures are incorporated into regression analyses, the wage and skilled-employment penalties experienced by foreign-educated immigrants fall by half or more, providing strong evidence for the human capital model. However, this analysis cannot rule out additional explanatory factors, such as legal and social obstacles that foreign-educated immigrants may face.
Erfasst von	GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Mannheim
Update	2023/1