This research assesses the prevalence and determinants of job–education mismatches among male immigrants in the United States between 1980 and 2009. The results suggest that educational attainment levels do not match occupational education requirements for almost half of all immigrants. Overeducation among high‐skilled immigrants vastly exceeds that of comparable natives. Probit models of overeducation suggest that: (i) personal characteristics operate in similar fashion for immigrants and natives; (ii) immigrant brain waste is above average in gateway states, metropolitan areas and in prosperous high‐wage areas; and (iii) proficiency in English and length of residence reduce the overeducation risk among high‐skilled immigrants.

We use data on Mexican and Chinese immigrants in the US to calculate the average marginal effects of residential and occupational segregation on immigrants' ability to speak English, and similarly the effects of English fluency of family members. Our results confirm that residential segregation is generally inversely related to English language proficiency of immigrants, except for skilled Chinese immigrants. Allowing for occupational fixed effects, the minority population share at the place of work is relevant for proficiency in English among skilled Chinese, but not for Mexicans and unskilled Chinese. We also find that the presence of English‐speaking adults in the household increases the probability of immigrants' proficiency in English.

Segregation by race, ethnicity and income is a persistent feature of US cities and communities, and ethnic enclaves have formed ever since immigration became more diverse. For low‐skilled immigrants in particular, settling in an ethnic enclave may offer important opportunities and facilitate coping with the new environment. However, immigrant enclaves may also foster occupational segregation and retard assimilation, with the willingness to invest in language acquisition playing a key role. This paper expands on earlier work focusing on the linkage between spatial segregation and language acquisition. Using data from the 2000 US Census, the study stratifies immigrants by their location in one of four metropolitan areas by educational attainment and national origin in order to determine the effect of these individual characteristics on English proficiency. The probability of speaking English was found to vary across the four locales and educational attainment. Language acquisition was highest in the metropolitan area where the immigrant share is smallest, and is increasing in educational attainment. Resumen La segregación por raza, etnicidad e ingresos es una característica permanente en ciudades y comunidades de los EE.UU., y desde que la inmigración se volvió más diversa siempre se han formado enclaves étnicos. El establecerse en un enclave étnico, en particular para inmigrantes no cualificados, puede ofrecer importantes oportunidades y facilitar el hacer frente al nuevo ambiente. Sin embargo, los enclaves de inmigrantes pueden albergar también segregación ocupacional y retrasar la integración, y en ellos la voluntad de invertir en la adopción de la lengua idioma juega un papel clave. Este artículo amplía estudios anteriores y se centra en el vínculo entre la segregación espacial y la adopción de la lengua. El estudio utiliza datos del censo del año 2000 de los EE.UU. para estratificar inmigrantes según su localización en una de entre cuatro áreas metropolitanas y según su nivel académico y país de origen para determinar el efecto de estas características individuales en su dominio del inglés. Se encontró que la probabilidad de hablar inglés es diferente para las cuatro localizaciones y según el nivel académico. La adopción de la lengua fue mayor en el área metropolitana en que la proporción de inmigrantes es menor, y aumenta con el nivel académico.

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Living and Working in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency of Immigrants in U.S. Metropolitan AreasLearning English is a potentially profitable investment for immigrants in the U.S.: while there are initial costs, the subsequent benefits include the ability to communicate with the majority of the population, potentially leading to better paying jobs and economic success in the new country. These payoffs are lessened if immigrants choose to live and work in ethnic enclaves where the necessity to communicate in English is weak. Ethnic enclaves are widespread and persistent in the U.S. This study uses data from the 2010 American Community Survey to examine the impact of residential and occupational segregation on immigrants' ability to speak English. We allow for heterogeneity in the relationship between segregation and English language proficiency across ethnic groups and focus specifically on Mexican and Chinese immigrants. Our results show that immigrants in the U.S. who live and work among high concentrations of their countrymen are less likely to be proficient in English than those who are less residentially and occupationally segregated. The magnitude of the effect of segregation on language proficiency varies across immigrants' birthplaces and other salient characteristics defining the immigration context.

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Nearly 40 million workers are employed in retail and service occupations. While the average age and educational attainment of workers in these occupations has increased significantly since the 1970s, many of these occupations offer low wages, along with limited fringe benefits and opportunities for advancement. These occupations also employ a disproportionate share of Black and Hispanic women. Using longitudinal data from the 2004 and 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation which provide occupational data over a four year timespan, we evaluate the prevalence of occupational mobility by sex, race, and ethnicity. This research shows there are racial disparities in occupational mobility, with Black and Hispanic women less likely to exit retail and service occupations than White, non-Hispanic women. Educational attainment increased the likelihood of occupational mobility. Hispanic women's lower levels of educational attainment depressed their occupational mobility, while longer job tenure increased the likelihood they would be occupationally mobile. Differences in human capital and job tenure did not explain mobility disparities between Black and White, non-Hispanic women. However, unionization reduced occupational mobility and partly accounts for Black women's lower rates of mobility. Black women were more likely to be unionized and unionization was associated with decreased occupational mobility among women. Workers in unionized retail and service occupations earned higher wages, reducing the incentive to leave and lowering their occupational mobility rate.

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