Hindus & Muslims: Well-educated in America; Least Educated Worldwide

[Riaz Haq]

Are immigrants in the United States or United Kingdom or any other host country truly representative samples of the populations in their places of origin? Are American Hindu or Muslim demographics comparable to those of the countries they left? A recent report done by Pew Research answers these questions with substantial amount of data on educational attainment.

Global Hindus and Muslims:

Hindus are the best educated religious group in the United States. They are followed by Jews in the second place and Muslims at number 3, according to Pew Research. However, both Hindus and Muslims are at the bottom in terms of educational attainment measured across the globe. 41% of Hindus and 36% of Muslims have had no formal schooling. Hindus have the widest gender gap in education among all religions in the world with Hindu women trailing Hindu men by 2.7 years.

US Educational Attainment By Religion:

American Hindus are the most highly educated with 96% of them having college degrees, according to Pew Research.  75% of Jews and 54% of American Muslims have college degrees versus the US national average of 39% for all Americans.  American Christians trail all other groups with just 36% of them having college degrees.  96% of Hindus and 80% of Muslims in the U.S. are either immigrants or the children of immigrants.

US Educational Attainment By Religion Source: Pew Research

Jews are the second-best educated in America with 59% of them having college degrees.  Then come Buddhists (47%), Muslims (39%) and Christians (25%).

Worldwide Educational Achievement By Religion Source: Pew Research ...

Worldwide Educational Attainment By Religion:

Jews with average of 13.4 years of schooling are the most highly educated of all major religious groups in the world, while Muslims and Hindus, with average of just 5.6 years of schooling, are the least educated, according to a Pew Research Center global demographic study.  The global average schooling for the world is 7.7 years.

The number of Hindus with no formal schooling is 41%, the highest of all religions. It's followed by 36% of Muslims with no schooling.

Gender Gap By Religion:

Hindu women trail Hindu men in schooling by 2.7 years, the widest gender gap among all religions. The gender gap between Muslim men and women is 1.5 years while Jews have no gender gap.

Summary:

Pew research data clearly shows that Hindu and Muslim immigrants in the United States represent crème de la crème of the nations they have come from.  They are much better educated and far more accomplished. They are in no way representative samples of the demographics of their home countries.

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[Riaz Haq]

Pew: #Ireland #Muslims more educated but Muslims in rest of #Europe less educated than non-Muslims. http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/... … via @IrishTimes

the Pew study says “for example, Ireland’s economic boom of the late 1990s drew highly skilled Pakistani and African migrants and refugees. Partly as a result of this, Muslims in Ireland have an average of 11.8 years of schooling – one more year, on average, than non-Muslims in that country.”

Muslims in Ireland are better educated on average than non-Muslims, according to new research.
Ireland was one of few exceptions in Europe with Muslims completing an average of 11.8 years of schooling, or a year more than non-Muslims, the Religion and Education Around the World report by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre found.
It attributes the relatively high education levels among Muslims in Ireland, the UK, Lithuania, Slovakia, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Hungary to the countries having “immigration policies favourable to highly educated migrants”.

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It is estimated that Ireland’s Muslim population currently stands at approximatly 70,000, of whom 2,000 are said to be doctors.
Schooling
In other European countries Muslims tended “to have less education, ranging from an average of 10.8 years of schooling in Georgia to a continent-wide low of 5.8 years in Spain, ” the study found.
The biggest gap, the report says, is in Germany, where Muslims, on average, have 4.2 fewer years of schooling than non-Muslims (9.5 years v 13.7 years, respectively).
In France, Muslims had 2.9 fewer years schooling less than non-Muslims while in Spain it was 3.2 years less. Many such European countries, the study found, had “experienced large inflows of Muslim refugees or guest workers in recent decades”.
Overall, it found that “Jews are more highly educated than any other major religious group around the world, while Muslims and Hindus tend to have the fewest years of formal schooling”.
Meanwhile “those who describe their religion as atheist, agnostic or ‘nothing in particular’, have spent an average of nine years in school, a little less than Christian adults worldwide.”

Christians “ who make up the world’s largest religious group at 2.2 billion people” had 9.3 years of schooling, on average, worldwide making them “one of the world’s most highly educated religious groups”.

[Riaz Haq]

Pew: #Muslims have made some of the greatest gains in #educational achievement in recent decades. http://pewrsr.ch/2hAERh3 

Among the world’s major religious groups, Muslims have made some of the greatest gains in educational achievement in recent decades. The share of Muslim adults (ages 25 and older) with at least some formal schooling has risen by 25 percentage points in the past three generations, from fewer than half (46%) among the oldest group included in the study to seven-in-ten (72%) among the youngest. The Muslim gender gap in educational attainment worldwide also has narrowed.


Nearly four-in-ten (36%) Muslim adults, however, still have no formal schooling at all. That includes 43% of all Muslim women and 30% Muslim men. At the other end of the spectrum, 8% of Muslim adults – including 10% of Muslim men and 6% of Muslim women – have a post-secondary education.

There were a total of 1.6 billion Muslims of all ages in 2010. Educational attainment among the world’s more than 670 million Muslim adults varies widely depending on where they live, revealing a picture of high achievement in some countries and regions and a pattern of educational disadvantage in others. Globally, Muslim adults have an average of 5.6 years of schooling. But, regionally, the average ranges from 13.6 years among Muslims in North America (a population projected to increase from 3 million to 10 million people by 2050) to just 2.6 years in sub-Saharan Africa (where the number of Muslims of all ages is expected to expand from 248 million in 2010 to 670 million by mid-century).5

[Riaz Haq]

A little “#MIT for #Pakistan” #Technology

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1266461/little-mit-pakistan/


by Umar Saif

This little “MIT for Pakistan” is driven by a culture of research and entrepreneurship. Its main purpose is to advance innovation and research in the areas of science, technology and engineering. We are highly selective in admitting faculty, research staff and students. This year, our student admission rate was only 2.28 per cent. The scholarship programs, both merit and need based, ensure that applicants are admitted solely on the basis of merit, irrespective of their ability to pay university fees. ITU’s main strength is the quality of its tenure-track faculty. Our tenure-track faculty hiring process is driving entirely by the candidate’s potential to conduct world-class research. Faculty members must have a PhD from a top-tier university and proven research credentials.

In the short duration of 3 years, our faculty members have won over Rs700 Million in competitive research grants, published scores of papers in top journals and conferences and made technology that solves local problems in Pakistan. For instance, Dr Mujeebur Rehman has invented a low-cost ventilator to replace the hand-pumped ventilators in hospitals, which could save thousands of lives every year; Dr Tauseef Tauqir has developed a new fan motor that would drastically reduce the energy consumption for fan manufacturers in Gujranwala; Dr Ali Agha has made a speech-based system that enables illiterate people to access Internet services and Dr. Yaqoob Banghash is digitising the historical archives of Punjab. Collaboration between PITB and ITU researchers has helped the Punjab Government in designing an early epidemic warning system for Dengue, reducing the dropout rates in child vaccination programmes in Punjab, Baluchistan and K-P, and devising a data collection platform that underpins mobile applications used by the government of Punjab.

Cambridge results: Record setting year for Pakistanis

With a specific focus on entrepreneurship; we have established a startup incubator, called Plan9 which is jointly run with the PITB. It has graduated over 130 startups and helped bootstrap a culture of tech startups in Pakistan. Plan9 now supports over 17 startup incubators throughout the country. Each faculty members gets one day off every week from university services to work towards the commercialisation of their research projects. In order to establish a credible scientific publication in Pakistan, ITU has licensed MIT’s Technology Review magazine, one of the most credible scientific publications in the world. MIT Technology Review Pakistan is printed every two months and covers technology research, startups and products in Pakistan.

We have just work on a purpose-built campus spread over 183 acres on Barki Road in Lahore. At the same time, we are entering into a partnership with EdX (MIT and Harvard University online course platform) to introduce online learning in our classrooms. I hope our little “MIT for Pakistan” will become a platform to advance scientific research, innovative and entrepreneurship in Pakistan.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan is the fourth biggest country to provide doctors to United States and at present 12000 Pakistani physicians and specialist doctors are working in different states.

It is expected that in near future Pakistan will become the third biggest country to provide doctors who fulfill the demand for international doctors in the USA, says a press release.

This was informed during a visit of a delegation led by Dr. Humayun J. Chaudhry President and Chief Executive Officer of Federation of State Medical Boards of United States to offices of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) on Monday.

The PMDC President along with its council members and PMDC staff welcomed the delegate.

A detailed presentation of PMDC functioning was given to him by President PMDC.

PMDC arranged visits for the delegate in public, private and military medical dental colleges i.e Army Medical College, Rawalpindi Medical College, CMH, Holy Family Hospital etc to brief about the medical and dental educational system of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Dr. Humayun Chaudhry also attended a seminar regarding Pakistani medical and dental curriculum and licensure in Holy Family Hospital jointly organized by PMDC and Rawalpindi Medical College.

The delegate Dr. Humayun Chaudhry appreciated the system of medical and dental education in Pakistan.

He said out of 12000 doctors in USA, 3100 doctors graduated from Dow University of Health Sciences, 1900 from King Edward Medical College and others from Agha Khan University and also Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore.

He apprised that the Pakistani national doctors in USA are having a very good repute and are considered the best doctors.

He added that he is very impressed that Pakistan is getting more advancement in the field of medicine and system of medical dental education and its standard is at par with the west.

Dr. Humayun J. Chaudhry is also the Chair-Elect of International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities (IAMRA) which has 107 members from 47 countries including Pakistan.

Since 2009 he is the President and Chief Executive officer of Federation of State Medical Boards FSMB of United States which co-owns the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE).

http://www.brecorder.com/pakistan/general-news/333193-pakistan-4th-...
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US lawmakers move bill to bring in more doctors from India and Pakistan


India has six doctors per 10,000 and Pakistan has eight. By comparison, the United States has 24/10,000. That hasn't stopped two American lawmakers from introducing legislation aimed at speeding up visa approval for Indian and Pakistani doctors slated to work in the US, citing shortage of physicians in the United States. 
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The lawmakers say foreign physicians scheduled to serve their residencies at American hospitals are encountering extremely long delays in obtaining J-1 visas from US embassies in their countries, while specifically identifying India and Pakistan as catchment countries.
The holdups, they said, have resulted in "major dilemmas" for those doctors and the US hospitals - many in rural and underserved communities - at which the physicians are set to work. In many instances, they said, the delays have forced hospitals to withdraw offers from foreign physicians who had already accepted.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-lawmakers-move-bill-...

[Riaz Haq]

Read the following:

For the African and Indian, the parent generation has more years of full time education than the white British born reference group. The Chinese and Pakistani first generation groups are similar to whites, and the Caribbean and Bangladeshi have slightly lower years of full time education. More importantly, for all groups (except for the Caribbean), those who are born in Britain have more years of full time education than their white British-born peers. Furthermore, for some groups, the difference between the parent generation and the generation of their descendents is quite dramatic, and far larger than for British born whites. Overall, the figure suggest that the descendents of British ethnic minority immigrants (born between 1963 and 1975 in Britain, and observed between 1998 and 2009) have higher levels of full time education than their parents, and (except for the Caribbean) higher levels of full time education than their British born white peers. Also, the difference between parent- and child generation is larger for all minority groups than for whites, with the exception of the Black Caribbean. That is quite remarkable, and paints quite a positive picture of educational attainments of Britain’s ethnic minorities

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctpb21/Cpapers/Ethn_2gen_revision_C1.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/dec/27/british-muslim-wome...

Children of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin in Britain have outperformed other ethnic groups to achieve rapid improvements at every level of education, but are significantly less likely to be employed in managerial or professional jobs than their white counterparts, according to a study.

One study quoted claims that Indian children in Britain were much more likely to complete their homework five days a week and to have access to a computer at home. Another showed higher engagement among Pakistani and Bangladeshi families.

[Riaz Haq]

Muhammad makes list of top 10 baby names in the #UnitedStates for first time. #Muslim #American
Here's the top 10 list:
1. Liam
2. Jackson
3. Noah
4. Aiden
5. Grayson
6. Caden
7. Lucas
8. Elijah
9. Oliver
10. Muhammad https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/living/article/Muhammed-top-baby-n...(Desktop)&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral via @StamAdvocate

Sophia still reigns as queen, but Jackson has lost his crown as king.

The parenting website BabyCenter released its annual list of 100 most popular baby names for girls and boys in the United States, and for the 10th year in a row, Sophia is at the top. Liam knocked Jackson out of the No. 1 spot that he had held onto for six years straight.

The online parenting and pregnancy destination compiled the names of babies born to some 600,000 registered U.S. users in 2019 and combined those that sound the same but have different spellings (such as Sophia and Sofia) to create a true measure of popularity. The Social Security Administration also generates a list, pulling from the names of all babies born in the U.S., but the agency treats each unique spelling as a separate name.

Almost all of last year's top-10 darlings are still favorites this year, with a few exceptions. Revealing a rise in Arabic names, Muhammad and Aaliyah made the top 10 for the first time, replacing Mason and Layla.

Muhammad is considered the most popular name in the world, and UK news site Independent says it is "given to an estimated 150 million men and boys."

"Muhammad's been rising on BabyCenter top baby name lists around the world, so we knew it would soon break into the U.S. top 10," Linda Murray, BabyCenter's global editor in chief, said in a press statement. "Muslim families often choose Muhammad for firstborn sons to honor the prophet and bring blessings to the child. The name also has multiple spellings, and that helps a name get into the top 10."

Last year and in 2017, Muhammad ranked No. 14 on BabyCenter's list. This year, it saw a 29 percent jump in popularity to make No. 10. It first entered the top 100 in 2013 and has been climbing ever since.

The Social Security data shows Muhammad went from No. 620 in 2000 to No. 345 in 2018, but if the agency also combined variant spellings such as Mohammad, Mohammed and Muhammad in its count, the overall ranking would be higher.

Find the ranking of the top 10 for girls and boys below:

Girls

1. Sophia
2. Olivia
3. Emma
4. Ava
5. Aria
6. Isabella
7. Amelia
8. Mia
9. Riley
10. Aaliyah

Boys

1. Liam
2. Jackson
3. Noah
4. Aiden
5. Grayson
6. Caden
7. Lucas
8. Elijah
9. Oliver
10. Muhammad

BabyCenter also analyzes naming trends, drawing links between names that have climbed up the list and pop culture. BabyCenter's trend-spotters noticed Keanu Reeves' dominance on the big screen has crept into the minds of new parents; the actor's moniker had a 24-percent increase in popularity.

It's probably no surprise the wildly popular "Star Wars" movie franchise is impacting baby names. While Cassian from "Rogue One," Rex from "The Clone Wars," and Kiera and Kira (as in Qi'ra) from "Solo" are all up, Luke and Anakin from the "Skywalker" saga are down. The exception: Leia saw a 30-percent boost.

But today's parents aren't entirely rejecting nostalgia. BabyCenter noticed '90s names are back, just like scrunchies and Birkenstocks. Brittany saw an impressive 33-percent bump and Nicole, Amber, Amanda, Lauren, Jessica, Stephanie, and Rachel are all up. Among boys, more babies are being named Jonathan, Christopher, Nicholas, and Austin.

[Riaz Haq]

Hindu population up in US, becomes fourth-largest faith
The proportion of Hindus in the US population rose from 0.4 percent in 2007 to 0.7 percent last year, according to the Pew Research Center.

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/hindu-population-up-in-united...

ueled by immigration, America's Hindu population has reached 2.23 million, an increase of about one million or 85.8 percent since 2007, making Hinduism the fourth-largest faith, according to estimates based on wide-ranging study of religions in the nation.

The proportion of Hindus in the US population rose from 0.4 percent in 2007 to 0.7 percent last year, according to the Pew Research Center's "Religious Landscape Study" published Tuesday.


The study only gave the percentage shares of Hindus in the population, rather than numbers, but calculations by IANS using the population proportions in the report and census projections showed that the number of Hindus rose from 1.2 million in 2007 out of a total US population of 301.2 million that year to 2.23 million in 2014 in a population of 318.88 million. This amounts to an increase of 1.03 million or 85.8 percent in the Hindu population during the seven-year period.

Pew said that it may have underestimated the size of the Hindu population.

An earlier report from Pew on the future of world religions in April said that by 2050, Hindus would make up 1.2 percent of the US population and number 4.78 million. This would make the US Hindu population the fifth largest in the world.

Looking at the socio-economic profile of Hindus, the new Pew report released Tuesday said they had the highest education and income levels of all religious groups in the US: 36 percent of the Hindus said their annual family income exceeded $100,000, compared with 19 percent of the overall population. And 77 percent of Hindus have a bachelor's degree compared to 27 percent of all adults and 48 percent of the Hindus have a post-graduate degree.

Even as some American Christian organisations push for proselytisation in India, their share of the US population fell by 7.8 percent during the seven-year period, from 78.4 percent in 2007 to 70.6 percent last year, the Pew study said. That works out to about 11 million fewer Christians.

However, "Christians remain by far the largest religious group in the United States, but the Christian share of the population has declined markedly," the report said.

Underlying the change, there was a marked increase in the number of people who say they have "no particular religion," the study reported. About 23 percent of American adults fell into this category, up seven percent from the 16 percent in 2007. Included in this broad category are atheists who make up 3.1 percent of the total US population and agnostics, four percent.