High-skilled immigration debate grows over stark gender imbalance, favoring men for H-1B visas
By Matt O'Brien
mercurynews.com
Posted: 03/19/2013 06:28:07 AM PDT
The long-overlooked disparity is beginning to attract attention on Capitol Hill, where activists demanded Monday that the federal government take a closer look at whether U.S. visa policy discriminates against women.
Corporate hiring practices, outdated U.S. visa policies and entrenched gender discrimination in immigrants' home countries are all contributing to the disparity. The hearing marked the first time this year that lawmakers specifically addressed how reform of the immigration system will affect women.
While the Obama administration came under fire at the hearing for not revealing how many men and women hold H-1B visas, the nation's centerpiece program for highly skilled workers, the data requested by the Bay Area News Group provided the scope of the imbalance: The U.S. Office of Immigration Statistics recorded 347,087 male H-1B visa holders entered the country during the 2011 fiscal year compared to 137,522 women.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_228190...r?source=email