Recruiting Immigrants to Sustain Teacher Supply

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Pew Research Center data in 2020 reported the U.S. foreign-born population is projected to reach 78 million by 2065. Since 1965, the number of immigrants living in the U.S. has more than quadrupled. The report also indicated that immigrants today account for 13 percent of the U.S. population and 16 percent of the labor force.

The growing number poses huge challenges for integration and integration policy as many immigrants hold high education levels and skills.

A 2014 report by OECD, “Labour Market Integration of Immigrants and Their Children,” showed most European countries, as well as the U.S., are failing to use much of the potential that immigrants offer, as qualifications and work experience from abroad are widely undervalued and the education of foreign-born individuals is perceived by the host country as substandard.

While a third of U.S.-born citizens attain at least a bachelor’s degree, immigrants in this country far exceed that figure in terms of educational attainment, according to the Pew Research Center. Fifty percent or more of those from South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East/North Africa and Canada/North America have earned bachelor’s degrees.