Foreign Students and Employment

ANC/ HOST:
According to The Immigration and Naturalization Services Department, or the INS…more than 500 thousand international students are admitted to American Universities every year … But with the September 11th attacks and the ongoing economic recession, the dreams these students come with have gone haywire. The Beat’s Jyotsna Natarajan reports on the future for foreign students in the United States.

Nat sound of cricket … 8 secs
It’s about 7 p.m in Austin and a group of students from India get together at a park near the University of Texas campus to play cricket… an Indian bat and ball game, much like baseball.
Nat sound…
But cricket is just a way to relax from bigger problems that these students face. Engineering student Sanjeev Uruvandavivda came to Austin two years ago to get a Master’s Degree.

BITE: Sanjeev
I thought this was all part and parcel of getting Master’s in the States.. get an internship… and then graduate - you’ll have six offers or something with you… and then choose – the one which pays more or the one which you like to do… work for 5-6 years here, gather the experience and head back to India.

Nat sound of cricket
Uruvandavida neither got an internship, nor a job offer. But he does have a Teaching Assistantship or TAship on campus. It’s a part- time job…and at a time when jobs are hard to find, having a TAship is a blessing.

BITE: Sanjeev
I have a good TA, and the people there like me so I’d like to continue there till I finish… I mean, I still have my report to do, my course work’s over… so I’m just going to go ahead complete my report during fall… and keep searching for a job and hopefully things will become better.

Nat sound: IO office (?)
Uruvandavida is biding his time… instead of getting his Master’s Degree this August, he has postponed his graduation date. Continuing to work as a TA is the only way he can take care of his daily expenses and legally stay in the US. Dianne (Dean) Willis is with the Immigration Department at UT. She says Uruvandavida’s strategy is one that many students on campus adopt.

BITE: Dianne Willis
Probably in the last year or two we’ve had students that seem to be delaying their graduation because they don’t feel job market is right for graduation at this time and going out and looking for a job.

But that does not mean all students want to stay in school.
Nat sound: Indian music and sound of cooking
Advertising major Chitra Thankaswamy takes a break from writing her Master’s report as she fixes herself a snack. (NAT sound of sizzling…)
Unlike Uruvandavida, Thankaswamy does not have a TAship to fall back on if she doesn’t find a job.

BITE: CHITRA
When I came here I had this idea that I should work in a big company with a big name – all that was really important to me.

But now Thankaswamy worries about her future.

BITE: Chitra
I don’t see the big agencies hiring… the prospect of going back to India is of course nice… but when I think of all the debts I have – I’ll have to earn in Indian rupees and pay back the debts, it doesn’t seem to be very enticing at the moment.

Especially since the exchange rate of the Indian rupee to the dollar is almost 50 rupees. Columbia University’s Sreenath Sreenivasan is an expert on the high-tech sector. He says the picture is not rosy for international students.

BITE: Sreenath
As long as there’s uncertainty, there’ll be less consumerist buying stuff and the less stuff that gets made … the less opportunities are there for people who make the stuff. And people who make the stuff include those international students who would like to work here.

For students like Thankaswamy, that’s not good news. After graduating, international students have a grace period of one year… to find a job while on their student visa. And for Thankaswamy getting any job will not be enough.

BITE: Chitra
I have to, have to, have to think about paying all that money back. So I can’t just work somewhere just to gain experience and just get enough money to get by. I need to make some money.

Some analysts predict a second recession soon… and if that happens, thousands of international students like Uruvandavida and Thankaswamy may have to continue holding on to their dream… For the Beat, this is Jyotsna Natarajan.