Indian’s both highly educated and reimbursed in the US
Indians have emerged as “an extraordinarily successful minority” in America, observes The Economist. This is based on the findings by economist Devesh Kapur, in his new book that is under review.
In his book provisionally entitled “The Other One Percent”, he and his co-authors show how Indians have outrun all other minorities in terms of Income and education.
In 2012, approximately 42% held first or higher degrees with an average household income of over $100,000. Mr Kapur estimates as that to be roughly double that of White Americans. Over two thirds hold white collar jobs.
This finding is set to expel the stereotype of Indians as “keeping shops or running motels”. There is a rise in the class of elite Indians who are most likely to be seen in Tech companies and even government jobs. There are around 91,000 Indian-born people with PhDs living in America.
Moving to the United States is nothing new for the Indian community. They have been venturing to the ‘land of the free’ since 1820 and the 1990’s has seen a huge rise in Indian immigrants. India stands second (only behind Mexico), in the volume of immigrants arriving in America. In 2014, 70 percent of the priceless H-1b (highly skilled worker) visas were given to Indians. The United States may be second in the immigration tasks to the United Arab Emirates, but the Indian community (a considerable percentage in the overall figure) are beginning to enjoy success across a variety of industries.
With a highly successful Indian diaspora in the US, India should start forging ties with them and also creating the right conditions to prevent brain-drain from the country. Which despite the nation’s focus on developing the manufacturing sector with the ‘Make in India’ initiative, ultimately will lead to future success.
If you like this article you may be interested in “India Needs A Stable and Strong Nation in the North”.
