Staying in STEM or changing course: Do natives and immigrants pursue the path of least resistance?

•Shifting fields in graduate school allows young adults to adjust the occupational pathways they chose as undergraduates.•Natives are more likely to shift from STEM to law and medicine and less likely to remain in STEM than immigrants.•Immigrants are more likely to shift from STEM studies to business than native-born students.•When natives and immigrants both move into law, medicine or business, earnings gains are larger for natives than immigrants.•The lower probability that immigrants will leave STEM career paths for professional ones may limit their economic mobility.

This paper examines why Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields are becoming “immigrant” fields of study as native students shift from STEM fields to law, medicine and business. Using data from the 2010 National Survey of College Graduates, the analyses find that foreign college-educated immigrants with STEM degrees tend to remain in STEM fields, while natives are more likely to shift from STEM fields to law, medicine and business in graduate school. Among those who moved into law, medicine and business, the gains in earnings are larger for natives than for foreign educated immigrants. These results have important implications for the social mobility of highly educated natives and immigrants.