Indian immigrants make it obvious that the American dream is alive and well

They have funny accents, wear strange outfits, and eat really spicy food, and some wear turbans. Indian-Americans constitute less than 1% of the U.S. population. Yet you will find them at the helm of great companies such as Pepsico and Mastercard; as presidents and deans of Americas most prestigious colleges; at the pinnacles of journalism; dominating fields such as technology, scientific research, and medicine; and thriving in industries such as hospitality, transportation, and real estate. They have also achieved extraordinary success in government: the governors of two of Americas most conservative states are of Indian origin, as areWhite Housesenior advisors and the U.S. Surgeon General.

Even though the prosperity isnt evenly distributed and some segments of the Indian community face severe social and economic problems, it is notable that the median annual income of U.S. households headed by an Indian immigrant is $103,000twice the U.S. median.

How could a recent immigrant group achieve such incredible successand what can we learn from it?

First, you need to understand the background of this group; it is highly educated and entrepreneurial. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 76 percent of Indian immigrants aged 25 or more have a bachelors or higher degree, and the vast majority are proficient at English. Though some come from poor families, most of the Indians who make it to America are from the middle or upper class; the students who qualify for admission to U.S. universities are the cream of the crop; the workers who get hired by U.S. companies are highly skilled. Only ambitious risk-takers willingly leave friends and families behind to shoot for success in foreign lands; they are entrepreneurial in nature.

Immigrants who come to America face discrimination just as foreigners in any country do. Americans are generally tolerant and open-minded, but racism is an ugly human trait. People with a dark skin or a foreign accent are always at a disadvantage in America. This means that they have to work harder and think smarter. Indian immigrants were typically at the top of the social ladder in the communities that they left behind but find themselves on the lowest rung in the U.S. This is a very uncomfortable experience and provides incredible motivation to do whatever it takes to succeed, as I can tell you from personal experience.

I too am an Indian immigrant, and I remember when I first came to the U.S. as a child in the 60s. My classmates asked me whether I charmed snakes; parents pointed to me and told their children to think about starving Indians before wasting the food on their plates. This was very hurtful, but it motivated me to do whatever it took to show everyone that I was as good as my classmates were. Later in life, when I returned to the U.S. after living abroad, I experienced similar discrimination and disparagement from venture capitalists in North Carolina. One told me that the reason he wouldnt fund my company was that your people dont make good CEOs. My blood still boils when I think about this, but it made me stronger and better. And it’s why I go out of my way to help other groups who have been discriminated against, especially African-Americans, Hispanics, and women.

And the success of Indian shows another side of this country.

The greatness of America is that a person who achieves success commands the highest level of respect regardless of his or her background, race, and religion. This is the American Dream: an ethos of freedom that provides anyone who achieves success through hard work with the opportunity for prosperity and equality. There are no absolute barriers to upward social mobility in America; that is why immigrants thrive and why America leads the world.

One of the biggest problems in Indiaand one that holds it backis that people are divided by region, religion, and caste. They may be Gujaratis, Punjabis, or Bengalis; Hindus, Muslims, or Sikhs in India, but when they come to America, they are all considered to be Indiansas are people from other parts of South Asia, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan. To Americans, we are all the same.

So when South Asians come to the U.S., they learn very quickly to put their differences aside. They begin to understand that the key to an individualsand a communityssuccess is to network, learn, and help each other. That is why they join groups such as The Indus Entrepreneurs, the South Asian Journalists Association, South Asian Americans Leading Together, and the South Asian Bar Association: to help each otherand, in the process, to uplift their communities. This too is how Indians become the dominant immigrant company founding group in Silicon Valley. My research team at Stanford and Duke had documented that, as of 2014, nearly 16% of the startups in Silicon Valley had an Indian founder. The secret of their success lay in learning and mastering the Valleys rules of engagement: networking, exchanging ideas, and mentoring.

The lessons that disadvantaged groups can learn from Indian immigrants are to help each other and “pay it forward”. America shows the world that providing all people with equal opportunity makes a bigger economic pie; that diversity fuels innovation and economic growth.

Link to article on Washington Post’s website

About Author

Vivek Wadhwa is Vice President of Innovation and Research at Singularity University; Fellow, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance, Stanford University; Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at the Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University; and distinguished visiting scholar, Halle Institute of Global Learning, Emory University. He is author of ”The Immigrant Exodus: Why America Is Losing the Global Race to Capture Entrepreneurial Talent”–which was named by The Economist as a Book of the Year of 2012. Wadhwa oversees the academic programs at Singularity University, which educates a select group of leaders about the exponentially growing technologies that are soon going to change our world. These advances—in fields such as robotics, A.I., computing, synthetic biology, 3D printing, medicine, and nanomaterials—are making it possible for small teams to do what was once possible only for governments and large corporations to do: solve the grand challenges in education, water, food, shelter, health, and security.

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