The whole “Indian conspiracy” in tech falls flat once you look at the data. I dug into this on my long-haul flight because the word nepotism keeps getting thrown around.
So I asked a simple question:
What do tech companies actually require? → Education.
Here’s the stats that was alarming:
• 77% of Indian Americans ages 25+ hold a bachelor’s (31%) or advanced degree (45%) (Pew Research)
• 41.8% of non-Hispanic Whites hold a bachelor’s or higher, and only 14.3% have advanced degrees (U.S. Census)
Most tech roles demand at least a bachelor’s often preferring a master’s.
So if two candidates apply, one with a master’s and one without — who do you think gets the job?
In a 1,000-person tech team, roughly 650 would be Indian and 350 White, simply because Indians are nearly twice as likely to meet or exceed the qualification bar.
So yes, you’ll see a LARGER brown population in tech, because they chase big money and big money lives in STEM.
That’s not nepotism.
That’s color-blind meritocracy.
🔗 Sources:
pewresearch.org/race-and-eth…
census.gov/newsroom/press-re…