Governor Deval Patrick announced Thursday a plan to keep highly-skilled international students in Massachusetts post-graduation. Under his proposed Global Entrepreneur in Residence program, however, the "highly-skilled" appear to have one trait in common: technical talent. And now is not the time to be focusing solely on science, technology, engineering and math.
Patrick's proposed legislation exploits a loophole in federal immigration law, and could bolster the number of H-1B visas the state is allotted. Students eligible for a nonimmigrant visa but unable to obtain it due to a federal cap will be designated an "entrepreneur in residence" if they have plans to start or grow a business locally. As explained by Fortune:
Institutions of higher learning are exempt from the H-1B visa cap and can apply for visas for their employees at any point throughout the year, which means foreign graduates who are employed by higher-ed institutions through Massachusetts's GER program would, in theory, have a much better chance of securing a visa then they would if they applied for one as part of the private sector.
Although a reassuring step, the plan has been met with skepticism. South Korea native Eileen Han, a recent Northeastern alumna and marketing specialist at Attend.com, is currently battling visa issues, particularly because she is not tech-centric. As she explained in a previous interview:
People in technology and/or business are valued so high, but we should definitely try to support other majors because startups and entrepreneurs can come from any major or field of study. We don't want everyone in STEM and I've seen some people change their major in order to get their visa, although it's not what they are interested in studying or where they find their passion.
Ninety-percent of H-1B applications are for jobs requiring high-level STEM knowledge, according to the Brookings Institution. Rutgers University Professor Hal Salzman contends H-1B visa holders account for two-thirds of entry-level hires in the IT sector each year. IBM, Microsoft and Infosys have been among firms with the highest number of visa applications over the recent years.
Speaking to Han's point, however, there is one group consistently missing from the conversation: the creative class.
Artists have a key role to play in the life of any startup, particularly the tech-heavy, which often need a designer to come in and make their products accessible. Steve Jobs, a legend who stood at the very intersection of arts and technology, is a prime example of that. In Walter Isaacson's biography, he described Jobs's work as saying, "In all of his products, technology would be married to great design, elegance, human touches and even romance.”
The Rhode Island School of Design has helped spearhead the movement of turning STEM into STEAM, adding "art" into the technical equation.
"We're trying to get people to understand artists and designers don't just make things pretty," said Gregory Victory, director of RISD's Career Center, in a previous interview. The shift is why entrepreneurship is referred to as "artrepreneurship" at the Providence-based school and approached with a more creative eye. Locally, nonprofits and incubators like the Future Boston Alliance and Somerville's Artisan's Asylum also exist to fill the void and help highlight the creative side of innovation.
Now, this isn't to stay STEM shouldn't be emphasized. Several would argue that adding a letter to the acronym is a sign of just missing the point, because "arts are important for their own reasons unrelated to the importance of STEM." And while that may be true, the arts shouldn't be left out of the conversation, but rather incorporated in, particularly when speaking about entrepreneurship.
Critical thinking occurs across multiple disciplines and should be reflected as such. Today, individuals do not need to be artists or entrepreneurs, but rather innovators bringing a creative eye to business.
Gov. Patrick should remember this when speaking to his proposed legislation. This should not be a conversation of boosting the state's left brain, but rather feeding its collective intelligence.
Image via STEM to STEAM
