A New Study Finds That Thirty five percent of Inventors, Discoverers in U.S. were born in other countries .

    

From VOA learning English. This is the technology report. One of the most important resources the United States has to offer may be its highly educated immigrants. A new study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation or ITIF, finds 35% of those who invent products or discover new ideas in the US. 

Were born in other countries. The group looked at inventors who have won national awards. They also looked at people who applied for international legal protection or patents for their ideas in information technology or science. 

And the group spoke with inventors who work for large technology companies. The ITIF study shows that most inventors have a doctorate or PhD in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. Adams Nager is an economic expert at the foundation. 

The he says many immigrant inventors come to the United States for research and business possibilities that might not be available in their home countries. He says the. Study shows the value of bringing the smartest engineers from around the world to the US. 

They bring benefits to the economy with their new ideas and new ways of thinking about things, nager says. The other two thirds of American innovators are mostly white men. They are not young. The study found their average age is 47. 

Almost all of them have at least one advanced educational degree, like a master's or a PH. D. The research also finds that women make up only 12% of inventors in the United States. For VOA learning English, I'm Lucia Milanik.