The Price of Being International: Exploring Early Career Outcome Differences between International and Domestic Master’s Recipients from U.S. Institutions

Abstract

Based on neo-racism theory, this study seeks to examine whether international master’s recipients (IMR) who graduated from U.S. institutions have significant early career outcome differences as compared to domestic master’s recipients (DMR) in terms of major-job match, annual earnings and job satisfaction. By analyzing combined datasets of National Survey of Recent College Graduates (2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010), this study attempts to examine employment outcome differences between international and domestic master’s recipients from three perspectives. First, this study tries to answer whether international status has a significant effect on international master’s recipients’ career outcomes relative to domestic master’s recipients. In addition, this study examines the extent to which the effect of international status on career outcomes differs by field of study, Carnegie classification and institutional control. Further, the present study investigates whether country of origin plays a significant role in shaping international master’s recipients’ early career outcomes by comparing career outcomes of international master’s recipients born in China and India to domestic master’s recipients born in the U.S. After controlling for demographic, educational and job market characteristics, this study found that international master’s recipients were two times more likely than domestic master’s recipients to hold jobs that are related to their master’s degree, faced a 6% earnings disadvantage as compared to domestic master’s recipients, and did not have significant difference in job satisfaction as compared to domestic master’s recipients. The subgroup analysis found that international status effect on employment outcomes differs by field of study, Carnegie classification and institutional control. In particular, all else being equal, international master’s recipients with engineering majors faced a 12.24% annual salary loss as compared to their domestic engineering peers in the U.S. job market. International master’s recipients who graduated from Research II institutions in Carnegie classifications had a significant 14.15% earnings loss as compared to their domestic master’s recipients from the same institutions, all else being equal. In terms of country of origin effect on career outcomes, this study found that international master’s recipients from India performed much better in the U.S. job market than international master’s recipients from China in annual earnings and job satisfaction.