First-ever report reveals the most prolific innovators in the U.S. are not young entrepreneurial college dropouts; rather, highly educated immigrants with STEM degrees.
It’s the myth that just won’t go away and is, in part, responsible for the current belief amongst Millennials and Gen Z’ers that higher education isn’t relevant: today’s most successful and brilliant innovators are young entrepreneurs that drop out of college (e.g. Mark Zuckerberg, Jan Koum [1], Sean Parker [2]).
And though these drop-out entrepreneurs may have a pop culture edge thanks to the popularity of WhatsApp and Facebook amongst younger users, a new report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) reveals that the innovators that are not only the most prolific, but spur the most tech progress for the U.S., are, in fact, immigrants with Masters degrees or higher in STEM fields.
The report [3], written by Adams Nager, economic policy analyst at ITIF; David Hart, professor and director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy at the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs at George Mason University; Stephen Ezell, vice president of global innovation policy at ITIF; and Robert Atkinson, founder and president of ITIF; defines an innovator as someone that “drives technological progress by creating innovative new products and services that raise incomes and improve quality of life for everyone.”
These innovators include people who have won national awards for their inventions; filed for international, triadic patents for their innovative ideas in three technology areas (information technology, life sciences, and materials sciences); and filed triadic patents for large advanced-technology companies.
In total, over 6,000 innovators were contacted for the report, and over 900 provided viable responses about who they are in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, age, citizenship and education.
Not Who We May Think
According to the data collected in what ITIF calls the first-of-its-kind report, the demographics of U.S. innovation are not only different from the demographics of the U.S. as a whole, “but also from the demographics of college-educated Americans—even those with Ph.Ds. in science or engineering.”
The report reveals that immigrants comprise a large component of U.S. innovation:
- More than one-third (35.5 percent) of U.S. innovators were born outside the U.S., even though this population makes up just 13.5 percent of all U.S. residents.
- Another 10 percent of innovators were born in the U.S. but have at least one parent born abroad.
- More than 17 percent of innovators are not U.S. citizens, yet they are making contributions on behalf of the U.S.
- Immigrants born in Europe or Asia are more than five times as likely as the average native-born U.S. citizen to have created an innovation in America.
- Immigrant innovators also are better educated on average than native-born innovators, with over two-thirds (67 percent) holding doctorates in STEM subjects.
(Next page: Highly educated innovators; the stereotypes that are true)
The report also found that innovators in the U.S. are experienced and highly educated:
- Four-fifths (80 percent) of innovators possess at least one advanced degree, and 55 percent have attained a Ph.D. in a STEM subject.
- Half of innovators majored in some form of engineering as an undergraduate, and more than 90 percent majored in a STEM subject as an undergraduate.
- STEM graduates from private undergraduate colleges and universities are more likely to become innovators. However, innovators are more likely to hold graduate degrees from public universities than private ones.
- While the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) educated more innovators than any other single graduate university, large public universities, including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Texas at Austin followed as the top educators of innovators.
The Myths and the Unfortunate Truths
“Contrary to the popular narratives about young, technology-savvy entrepreneurs dropping out of college to found companies in Silicon Valley, the median age for innovators is 47,” emphasizes the report. And as previously noted, also highly educated.
Another myth debunked was that large firms are “copiers and small firms the innovators.” The report found that approximately 60 percent of private-sector innovations originate from businesses with more than 500 employees, with 16 percent originating from firms with fewer than 25 employees.
Also, more than half of companies with fewer than 25 employees received assistance from public sources, including grants from the departments of Defense and Energy and the National Institutes of Health, as well as awards from the Small Business Innovation Research program.
However, the report did find that some stereotypes are, dismayingly, accurate:
- Women represent only 12 percent of U.S. innovators, which constitutes a smaller percentage than the female share of undergraduate degree recipients in STEM fields, STEM Ph.D. students, and working scientists and engineers.
- The share of women was 5 percent larger among foreign-born innovators than among U.S.-born innovators.
- S.-born minorities (including Asians, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and other ethnicities) make up just 8 percent of U.S.-born innovators. These groups constitute 32 percent of the total U.S.-born population.
- Despite comprising 13 percent of the native-born population of the United States, African Americans comprise just half a percent of U.S.-born innovators.
Commenting on the data that women and U.S.-born minorities are significantly underrepresented, Nager stated “…the extent of that gap is so stark that it caught us by surprise.”
“When you consider what this portrait of American innovation looks like today, there are clear opportunities for policymakers to both broaden and deepen the national pool of STEM talent,” said Atkinson. “It is very clear that we need to do a much better job enabling women and minorities to earn STEM degrees. We also need to make it easier for immigrants with STEM degrees to work and contribute their expertise to America’s innovation ecosystem.”
For much more detailed information on the report, including where innovation occurs most often geographically in the U.S., policy implications related to STEM talents in the U.S., and data-based infographics, read “The Demographics of Innovation in the United States [3].”