Objective and Subjective Variables Behind the Working Conditions of Tertiary-Educated Mexican Migrants in the USA

Lilia Domínguez Villalobos (), Mónica Laura Vázquez Maggio () and Flor Brown Grossman ()
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Lilia Domínguez Villalobos: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Mónica Laura Vázquez Maggio: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Flor Brown Grossman: Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro

Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2022, vol. 23, issue 3, No 6, 1063-1090

Abstract: Abstract This paper contributes to the field of study of skilled migration by employing a different database from the one commonly used to study labor-market placement; our database was collected through an online questionnaire answered by Mexican migrants with tertiary education living in the USA. Through analysis of a set of both objective and subjective variables (not available in any other official database), we developed a statistical profile of their working and income conditions (high, medium, and low), and we corroborate much of what is in the literature, that is, that the concept of human capital is insufficient for analyzing the job outcomes of tertiary-educated migrants. We find the variables that increase the probability of tertiary-educated migrants’ income falling within the high-income stratum for both men and women are having a command of English and having a job offer prior to arrival in the USA. Other variables matter for men but not for women (and vice versa); for example, confidence in studies undertaken in Mexico mattered only for men. While being a professional or an entrepreneur/manager increases the probability of high income for both men and women, men excel in the market with STEM and econ-business degrees while women excel only in econ-business. For both men and women’s income, feeling discriminated against because of having a non-native accent decreases the likelihood of being in the high-income bracket. The perception of ethnic discrimination, however, affects only women’s income in a similar way.

Keywords: Tertiary-educated migrants; Skilled migrants; Labor market integration; Mexican skilled migrants in the USA; Mexico; USA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s12134-021-00871-9

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