When it comes to tapping into a large number of educated workers, many of whom are bilingual, Massachusetts appears to be missing out. Big time.

That’s a takeaway from a new report on the some 240,000 foreign-educated immigrants in the state – 106,000 of whom hold a bachelor’s degree and 134,000 of whom have completed at least some grad school.

Many of these immigrants earn less than their U.S.-educated peers and work in jobs that fail to fully use their skills. Some work in entry-level jobs, despite having advanced degrees. Others are unable to even find full-time work.

Sampan spoke by phone with Ember Skye Kane-lee, research manager of the report, titled “Hiring Skilled Immigrants: Recommendations for Massachusetts,” a report prepared by UMass Donahue Institute on behalf of the African Bridge Network.

Sampan: So, if we’re talking about nearly a quarter million people here who are potentially not meeting their employment potential, this seems to be a loss for not only the immigrant residents, but also for employers, too, right?

Kane-lee: Massachusetts is currently seeing a high rate of out-migration from the state, particularly among people who are in their late 20s to early 30s, and especially those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. … If we combine this high rate of out-migration with the aging workforce in the state, it’s actually creating a workforce shortage…. Particularly healthcare and education are hit very hard… So, employers should really think of tapping into the current talent pool of immigrants. … that is a very large pool of talent that is under-utilized right now.

Sampan: And it would seem (that at the same time that) many international students who get their educations in Massachusetts, I’m guessing, don’t necessarily stay here…. Do you have any insight into that?

Kane-lee: I’m definitely not the expert on this … but we can infer that given that the largest portion of out-migration is happening among the population in their late 20s to early 30s with a bachelor’s degree or higher – that generally is the age that people are finishing up their undergrad or their master’s degrees and are looking to establish themselves in their career and start a family, and given the very high housing prices across the state in Massachusetts, that may not always be attainable for these recent grads. So that is a piece of a large puzzle that needs a lot more study.

Sampan: It really seems counter-intuitive, but the report found that those documented immigrants with the most established immigration status – i.e. permanent residents vs. those with temporary work visas – are facing more obstacles than those with temporary statuses. Could you talk about that?
Kane-lee: So, the population that comes into the state as skilled workers with temporary work visas often comes in with pre-established job opportunities, which is how work visas are signed off on. Because they are already coming in with pre-established relationships with very specific employers and specific time frames of how long they are going to be in the U.S. doing work for these employers, the (temporary visa work experience) often goes much smoother because all of the logistics are done on the front end compared to jobs with permanent positions.

Sampan: Then I guess on the flip-side is those workers then have to leave….

Kane-lee: Yes, temporary status is just that … both the employer and the employee understand that they are only here for a set amount of time.

Sampan: You noted that healthcare and education, which are big industries here, have employment needs.… What are ways to help people who have degrees from foreign schools prove their educations are as valuable as those from U.S. schools?

Kane-lee: Over a third of college-educated immigrants in the United States have had issues of employers not recognizing their foreign work credentials. Immigrants have also had trouble navigating the various state credential standards because employers, industries and even states often differ in what those standards are for credentials. To address that are private credential evaluation services … to help employers understand (what credentials obtained overseas mean). There are several but one that I will call out is World Education Services….

Sampan: Do you think xenophobia is at play at all here in creating some obstacles for skilled immigrants?

Kane-lee: I think that can be the case. What we are seeing in the bodies of research that my team examined is that human resource departments and job applications themselves create additional barriers for skilled immigrants. A lot of the hesitation comes from a knowledge gap particularly on the employer side around the processes involved in hiring and working with populations – there are cultural norms. Hiring departments may not understand that hiring practices are different outside the United States. They could easily favor applications, unknowingly, that have resume formatting, educational background and even work experience that are familiar to U.S. employers. …

Skilled immigrants may lack knowledge around that process, putting them at a disadvantage during interviews and when their resumes are reviewed. A few examples include differences in body language, such as not making eye contact during interviews, which is very much expected in the U.S.. Also, those coming from (some) cultures, especially in East Asian countries, often have difficulties bragging about their skill set because that is not very common where they are from …

Sampan: Was there anything about this report’s findings that really surprised you, that you weren’t expecting?

Kane-lee: From the interviews and focus groups that I conducted with employers who were already hiring and working with skilled immigrants, it was really interesting for me to learn how large the disconnect is sometimes … between the educational background the entry-level immigrant employees have. One employer I interviewed mentioned that most of the management in charge of hiring, in charge of the general employee population, had no clue that many of their entry level employees had advanced degrees (such as in) engineering … from other countries and so once they realized that … they started programs that actually helped them utilize them. I think addressing this gap in employer knowledge is really important.