Women on H4 visas may slowly be changing the American tech industry, which has been a male bastion.
By Sujata Tibrewala
In my close to a decade of living and working in the United States, I have noticed that tech leadership has traditionally been a male bastion. When I was starting out as a tech professional in the Bay Area, I was baffled to find that mostly middle-aged men were leading the game during board meetings, important presentations and seminars.
Though a growing number of women has now become important cogs in the tech wheel, the gender disparity still remains. Even today, we see only a handful of women in top positions in the industry. It remains particularly unnerving to see such low numbers because I know there are so many educated, accomplished women out there who are not being given a fair chance. And yes, in my experience I have noticed that many of them are migrant women often on dependent or H4 visas.
The H4 EAD, which allows some spouses who are on dependent visas to work, has been getting so much bad rap lately that it is becoming almost impossible for many on H4 EADs to find suitable jobs – that is when many of these women, and, in many cases, men as well, are totally deserving of the positions they are applying for.
While I do not imply that everyone on H4 EAD is an extraordinary candidate, many of them do deserve a fair chance to be considered and this whole negativity is only thwarting their already limited chances.
While many presume that foreign women are taking away local jobs, here’s what I need to tell everyone — there are not many local American women who are vying for tech jobs. And yes, they must be encouraged and mentored to take up more STEM-related courses at school and college levels to add to the women workforce in tech.
But currently, so many women who have qualifications and experience in these fields must be considered and not just discriminated because they are not yet American citizens.
I am also an organizer of an Intel-sponsored “Meet Up” group, “Out of the Box Network Developers in Santa Clara,” where we do “tech talks,” recognize outstanding developers and create a community fostering tech developers. But since it is a niche field, the number of women participating are relatively low. During engineering meet-ups I have noticed that if there are 70 or 80 men, there are only 2 or 3 women.
But interestingly, now a growing number of women developers, mostly women of color, are coming to the fore. We see a lot of Asians, East Europeans and even Iranian women who are rising up in the tech world, further establishing that a lot of immigrants in America possess the skill to balance the skewed gender disparity in tech world.
What people need to know is that H4 EAD just gives a permission to find work. To go out there, put themselves in the job market, fight the competition and secure a job is totally the responsibility of an individual. And the struggle to find a foothold is real.
While many women find my position inspiring and ask me how I got where I am today, let me tell you my struggle was real, just like many, many other women. I came to the US on a dependent visa, too. I am engineer from IIT Kharagpur and have master’s in electrical engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. I had successful career as a team lead in CISCO back in Bangalore, India, prior to coming here.
Once here, I found myself struggling to find a job. In Chicago, where my husband was posted, I began applying for jobs, but would not find jobs matching up to my experience. Disappointed, I began looking for simple coding jobs even though I am a network software developer – a very niche and specialized field. But still I found little luck.
I decided to shift to Bay Area with my daughter, while my husband was still in Chicago, to increase my chances of finding work, but all I got was small consulting jobs. Employers were more concerned about my job gap than my capabilities.
So, yes, to begin my career, once again in America, I had to start from the level of a fresh college graduate despite having a decade-long promising career. After working in many roles and many years, I finally got a company that offered to convert my dependent L2 visa to an H-1B. But to get there was a long, arduous journey.
And this is the story of many other women, too. It is important for everyone to know that while women themselves do compromise a bit on their careers when they choose to come with their spouses, the Trump administration’s effort to put an end to their careers legally is not justified.
I had to spend years doing consulting jobs, surviving on a small salary and bringing up my daughter in the expensive Bay Area, somehow to revive my career. I had to work twice as hard as many men. And every woman who tries to return to work force knows that a great challenge lies ahead of her. To curtail even that chance to get there is unfair and unethical.
I am also a part of a diversity inclusion team at Intel, where we have a number of goals. While our internal goal is to ensure diversity, what happens is that while many women start, their careers span like a pyramid. Many continue dropping out for personal, family, or even visa-related reasons. Thus, only a precious few are able to reach the top.
The effort of the administration should be to nurture this talent and make them fruitful for the better future of America. Sadly, taking away their right of work adds to frustration, which in many cases, leads to them simply leaving America for more promising lands to re-start their careers.
There is a rising number of women with talent and they need to be mentored. At our annual SVEC banquet this year, where we give education awards for STEM to high school students, three out of four students selected after a rigorous process were girls. And that to me is a ray of sunshine for the future of women in tech in the US.
In the end, I would quote Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, “I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask my brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”
And that sums up the plight of many women struck by the unfair visa laws of the land.
(Sujata Tibrewala is an Intel community development manager and technology evangelist who defines programs to ensure that the network developer ecosystem works together toward a common goal: to drive SDN/NFV adoption in the industry using open source network software ingredients.)
47 Comments
H4ead should be cancelled because this visa has created the trouble for jobs. Spoiling the work environment. These people are on dependent visas this itself says that they didn’t enter the country on their merit and the fact that they won’t be able to work for sometime was fine to them . This shows their eagerness to work and they don’t have special talent or else they would have enter through H1b visas . Because of H4 ead the work environment is spoilt . Now it’s seems usa has no good work ethics. I guess it’s high time that h4 ead should be stop . It has became a other way of entering country through this visa who couldn’t get h1 b infact this is giving a bad idea to others those who have American dreams by showing a bad way. Rather than doing masters which requires them to spend some dollars to grab some good opportunities they think of entering the country through h4ead which has become a shortcut to success
Intel is hiring contractors for cheap (H4 ead) and happily underpaying them. They wont hire US citizens since they can treat the H4 EADs like toilet paper. Now do we want H4 EADs? No American would want. Go get a H1 like every one else and then work.
H4 EAD is disastrous for America. H4 EAD folks become equal to US citizens in job market- a wrong equivalence. Morever, H4 EAD is a derivative of H1B visa- how come H4 EAD becomes more powerful in job market over the primary H1 visa folks? This is madness.
So, here are my thoughts:
a) Either H4 EAD needs to be scrapped altogether or LCA requirement be added to the EAD. This way, the genunine ones will get through and the ones who are displacing needy Americans in walmart and costco cashiers will be sent out.
b) If 140 approval is the argument for granting the spouses a free EAD- then this argument should actually apply to H1 folks. Indeed, H1 folks should be given EAD after 140 approval because their merit and qualification is established by DoL and DHS- not to their spouses.
c) In all honestly, H4 EAD people should not: i) take up cashiers jobs because it displaces the real needy Americans, and ii) leverage telegu community feeling to grab a job. (Do not pretend this does not happen).
Please cancel H4-EAD, we don’t need this one. H4EAD should not be for skilled jobs.
Indians are abusing this rule. People who ever did not get H1B visa are taking route of H4-EAD.
I think it’s a shame how you conveniently put a spin on this story by leaving out some of the most important pieces of information. Over 95% of H4 EAD holders are Indians, not that diverse to merit the “People of Color” tag. This problem, like all others that have to do with work-related immigration, is an Indian problem, created by Indians for Indians, but when it comes to a solution, you want “all of us” to support you … no. Perhaps, if you rid yourselves off all the unnecessary racism, nepotism, and ethnocentrism and let us all live, we could be having a different conversation.
They are all approved for citizenship anyway as per congressional quota. EAD does not give them a job only permission to work as per human rights. I do say not all are high skilled but some are, because they chose family over career. Ead just gives them permission to look for a job and not a jo. Perhaps many are indian but i have worked with many colleagues from eastern europe, far east etc, and this is based on my sample size. You are free not to support anything. This is what i feel, and i see now many others feel it too
Correction, approved for PR and again, the ratio is 95%. Stop putting a spin on the story along the lines of women empowerment and race. No one asked a nation of Indians to flee as economic migrants to the US under the guise of “skilled workers”. The employment-based immigration system has been gamed by Indians for far too long, and this has created inconveniences for everyone else. IT outsourcing companies from India flood the system with applications exclusively from India (some of which have been proven to be fake) like that’s the only nation in the world with IT talent. I’m an immigrant myself, a highly skilled one at that and I really cherish the opportunities the US affords all of us irrespective of where we come from and any flaws in the system. For starters, nothing is and will ever be fair. The US wants diversity, and that’s why quota’s were put in place to ensure that this situation never happens. Go on to the forums online and read about how people really feel about Indians in the US in general. As a black man, I’ve been treated better by natives than Asians and South Asians who are economic migrants like myself in the tech industry. The ego, sense of entitlement, that caste system of yours that you carry everywhere you go, the lack of respect for the dark skin color, your inability to integrate and staying in niches. Should this continue, no opportunities will be left for anyone else who isn’t Indian like it’s already happening in many industries here in the US. H1B is and remains a temporary non-immigrant visa for skilled labor, valid for up to 6 years and its by good will that it also offers a path to permanent residence. You all came here on H1B and H4 knowing the terms and conditions and you came anyway and I couldn’t care less if the H4 holder was Einstein, rules are rules. The EAD is not an entitlement nor a given and I’m afraid you are asking too much of the system. The fact is there are simply too many of you applying to become permanent residents of the US and trying so hard to change the rules to cater to yourselves won’t help anyone, talking about HR 1044. This doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world, your own country makes it almost impossible for anyone to immigrate to, and recent news about how you treat the few African’s there says it all. It’s rather unfortunate that there are too many of you but that can’t and won’t be a problem for everyone else and that’s just the way it will be.
Let’s respect the fact: too many Indians have taken advantage and abusing h1b and h4 programs for decades. Many great American engineers lost their jobs due to these programs. Btw, I am asian, but not from india.
This is problem created by indians for indians … there is no gender diversity and all…
There is one proverb in Hindi …
बोए वृक्ष बबूल का, आम कहां ते होय..
All those indian consulting firms have bought unqualified people and then now the backlog is so huge that even well qualified people has to suffer…
I am wishing that this rule is remove soon and no more H4 EAD allowed to work…
Hi Sujata,
Lets start with you. Your credentials are fake. “Engineer from IIT Kharagpur”. Thats a big fat lie. You did MSc in Maths from IIT Kharagpur. This is what slimy people like you do. You are fakes, have no qualms about lying about education and faking experience.
People like you spoil name of Indians and make it harder for all immigrants.
Ok, how do u know h4 is not that diverse? Any statistics to support ur claim? Or just lazy day dreaming. If u google or perhaps just go through this website only you will find countless statistics and surveys proving H4 adds to the economy and creates jobs. And yes of course if you are more capable you would get the job why so insecure?
Dear IIT alumni, given ur credentials you are well educated and must b having a job to keep u busy how do u them get so much time to google and check other credentials. Nothing better to do? Jealous? How is this lady spoiling the name of Indians? Is it by being an achiever and choosing her voice to support others when clearly she herself is not even on H4 ead. Such a shame you being disgsrace to Indians by using words like slimy for a woman you may not even know and getting personal. Go get a life and may be a job. And next time have th courage to post a comment with ur real name you scum bag
Thanks Rup, for your interpretation. I am glad there are some sane people around. You are right i am not on h4 ead, but i could be since i did leave my job in india to support my husband. And after a
long struggle found someone to sponsor my h1 and now through my company i am on a path to citizenship. But i was lucky i was on l2. But you are right i know that h4 ead do not have that option because employers are not even taking a second look, forget about interview. I just wanted to change the conversation for them. But looks like there is too much un educated hatred. I wish everyone who commented read the article fully and their comments would be redundant. But what can you expect in this twitter age.
Sujata Tibrewal, right off let’s square away 2 things – I called you by your name and I AM leaving my name, email, etc on this blog, so there. Seems like you and your cohorts are the ones that are really “uneducated”. What don’t you get about the fact that merely securing a US visa, and thus an entry into the country, does not grant you, let alone guarantee, ANY RIGHTS OR PRIVILEGES whatsoever. A visa is an invitation to visit, stay, study, enjoy a vacation, conduct business, etc. at the sole discretion of the host country and its officials. You guys have no rights to stage protests, write to elected officials, file lawsuits – I mean, come on the sheer audacity of these people!! You won’t even open your mouths for all the stuff meted out to your fellow indians at places like UAE Qatar, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the world. So here you automatically assume you’re like a boss and can go do whatever you like?? Really? Get a life, and hope and pray that your are not deported en masse like all the DACA folks, because that is the real punishment that should be given to resume forgers and visa fraudsters, a majority of whom originate from India.
Looks like you did a google search on her profile. If you were an iit alumni yourself you would know she did BSc Maths at IIT KGP. To get into that is the same JEE as others. And then she went to IISc Bangalore which is even higher rated. A quick search on her name would show that she is a frequent speaker at different conferences and is well respected in the industry and board of many engineering societies. If you did search do not leave out things here.
So what is your point?? And who cares who she is or her so-called credentials? The real issue and the ONLY issue here is that Indians are 1) faking resumes, 2) hogging visas by the millions and 3) STEALING JOBS THAT LEGITIMATELY BELONG TO US-BORN, US-BRED CITIZENS!!! Get it? Good. Now go back to India or wherever the hell you came from “Friend”.
Hi Sujata,
Lets start with you. Your credentials are fake. “Engineer from IIT Kharagpur”. Thats a big fat lie. You did MSc in Maths from IIT Kharagpur. This is what slimy people like you do. You are fakes, have no qualms about lying about education and faking experience.
People like you spoil name of Indians and make it harder for all immigrants.
This is not fair, Indians on h1-b visa, h4 visa, opt visa are taking american jobs across the United States, and they are displacing american workers, this is not fair. And our so called American Senators and House of Representatives continue to let this happen. We the American citizens can vote and the foreigners can not vote but our government continue to take jobs away from Americans.
Oh you mean fake their resumes and get a job through a conducting firm?
If they were so good they could have gotten a H1B Visa. The reason there is a backlog in Greencard waitlist is because Indians have defrauded the system.
Karma. Remember.
Being a lady yourself you are standing against ladies. I know many qualified women who take back seat in their career to support their husbands not because they are not qualified. H4 ead only gives them permission to work and not a job. It breaks my heart that even if they are qualified no one even looks a second time forget about interview when they come to know they are on h4 EAD. Allowing them to work is a humans right issue. Being qualified yourself and not having a work permit means no financial independence, means you go back to 50s and have to depend on your “masters” wishes now.
Just stick to the point Sujata, and address her concerns – that Indians regularly fake their experience, the whole resume in fact, and on top of it, submit fraudulent visa applications through dubious employers, thereby stealing jobs that they don’t deserve and wouldn’t otherwise land. No need to bring all the “lady” business and other identity politics into the discussion.
Yaa then why did u marry an h1b if u had so much issues with listening to your master’s wishes.
When you were marrying your husband, you had American dreams in your mind which you solely got because if his h1b…then what issue you have to listen to him.
You know what ..just like someone had pointed sujata…just like your resume..your marriage is sham too..ask yourself why did you marry your husband
.just to come to US right?…also why did you pretend that your are an engineer from IIT..when you are not…ur a big scamster…and a bluffmaster..
Kevin Lynn, if you write too many negative things on here, this rag will eventually ban you from posting. Its owned by a bunch of indians after all, remember. I know you from the H1B group on Facebook and personally I’m fully supportive of banning these H4 EAD visas.
Clearly you are wrong about your comment deletions. It is good for me to know how much hatred there is, however i wish people educated themselves more. As someone pointed h4 ead are already approved citizens as per american congressional quota laws. Ead just gives them human right to work “not even a job ” so they can be independent of their spouses and can escape domestic abuse.
Too many Indians on visas, almost all H1, H4, EAD, OPT (not to mention the nefarious L1 visa) beneficiaries being Indian, “Indian-only” groups and subcultures in banks, automakers, drugstore chains, pharma, manufacturing, retail, government and of course tech. What kind of picture does that paint?? Indians are dominating and have taken over half the US workforce, and that is no joke. They’ve been abusing the visa, US residency and citizenship process for too long. There was a time not too long ago when Indians were actually hailed as innovators, startup leaders, even job creators. That all changed with the “Y2K non-event” – as thousands of fraudsters, resume fakers, and visa scammers got in, 90% of whom from one place in India i.e. Hyderabad in Andra Pradesh. Neither has there been effective monitoring (let alone enforcement) of USCIS, DOJ, DHS. DOL policies but these folks have displayed blatant and utter disregard for even basic laws and any civic responsibility after gaining entry to this country. Enough is enough. THIS HAS TO STOP NOW!! Its high time the Trump presidency put an end to the visa menace once and for all.
And yes, did I mention there are no known/proven cases of H4 ead fraud according to immigration lawyers
Please walk into any Indian Grocery store or Walmart or Target in the Bay Area, New Jersey, Atlanta, Dallas and many many more cities. You will find at least 50%+ of the 90,000 spouses working on H4-EAD. While there are no specific rules that defines where they should work, it is a straight displacement of American workers. There is no “highly skilled labor” involved there. Also, the fact that there is no definition of where they can work is a rule that can be abused in any way possible.
That said, I understand that several really qualified spouses will be affected. But they are a minority. That’s the reason why the Save H4EAD petition in WH could not even get the required 100,000 signatures. If everybody sided with it, 100,000 should have been signed within a week. The number of qualified, highly skilled spouses may be about 15,000. The rest are not ‘skilled’.
H1Bs are vetted through the visa process. H4-EADs are not. If USCIS comes up with a vetting system like that of H1B, i am all up for it. Otherwise, I fully support revoking H4-EAD and L2-EAD as well.
I personally went through my wife’s inability to work or get on campus jobs when she was doing her PhD. But we found a way and converted to F-1 during that period. At the end of the day, people form India get an opportunity to come to the US. That does not entitle them, leave alone their spouses, to anything. its not their country. And the sooner we as Indians or Indian Americans accept that, the lesser the heartache. The goal of Americans providing work opportunities for Indians is not to make parts of the US into mini-India. It cannot work that way because it’s not right.
How do u know that ppl working in Walmart etc that u see are on H4 ead? You assumed? Then it’s a shame that not only u assume but have the ignorance to come and write your embarrassing views here. And well, in case you asked them then are you aware that asking bout someone’s immigrant status can put you behind bars on certain cities. It is illegal. So how bout vet yourself well first with knowledge before blanket criticising others.
Thanks Nancy for being a positive voice here
I dint understand the anger towards the H4ead holders. First up only a fraction of h4 holders are eligible for jobs. These ppl are already on their way to become permanent residents and would eventually be part of the workforce. Secondly no one doles out jobs for them. If you are qualified you put ur resume in the job market and are only selected after a rigorous interview and selection procedure. It’s the survival of the fittest world. No one gets a job just be cuz they are on EAd.
“..no one doles out jobs for them.” – Who are you trying to fool? A lot of H4 EAD landed up in QA jobs because of telegu community feelings and favouritism. That is a problem- without LCA, hard to establish the percentage, but please do not pretend that all jobs come on merit.
Too many Indians on visas, almost all H1, H4, EAD, OPT (not to mention the nefarious L1 visa) beneficiaries being Indian, “Indian-only” groups and subcultures in banks, automakers, drugstore chains, pharma, manufacturing, retail, government and of course tech. What kind of picture does that paint?? Indians are dominating and have taken over half the US workforce, and that is no joke. They’ve been abusing the visa, US residency and citizenship process for too long. There was a time not too long ago when Indians were actually hailed as innovators, startup leaders, even job creators. That all changed with the “Y2K non-event” – as thousands of fraudsters, resume fakers, and visa scammers got in, 90% of whom from one place in India i.e. Hyderabad in Andra Pradesh. Neither has there been effective monitoring (let alone enforcement) of USCIS, DOJ, DHS. DOL policies but these folks have displayed blatant and utter disregard for even basic laws and civic responsibility after gaining entry to the US. Enough is enough. THIS HAS TO STOP NOW!! Its high time Trump admin put an end to the visa menace once and for all.
I know someone who got contact job on H4 EAD visa, and that person have shown fake experience in resume , worked less 1 than year, but shown 8 years of experience. Moreover this person claims on resume that it has bachelors from reputable a US college, however in real that person has only has high school diploma. The greedy IT vendor (consulting company) didn’t bother to verify the qualifications & experience and hired on contract to work for a Fortune 500 client. Unfortunately, because H4ead employment verification process is not same as H1, this person was able to scam the system. I personally know many hard working folks on H1 and like to welcome them with open arms. I also understand the people on H4 should be given opportunity to work, however I strongly believe same rules like H1 verification should be in place for H4 EAD hires. Current rules have lots of loopholes.
There are bad things and bad people everywhere in all the world. should we give your argument to stop everything. A Politician or business man or a corporation may do a scam. should be stop everything in the world. there is lot of crap on internet should we stop all internet servers in world. what a third grade mentality. Free loaders like you make these kinds of comments in any part of the world. nothing new…grow up!!
Wow I am free loader because I am telling truth. May be you have something to hide like fake experience…fake degree.. if not you should not be worried for Extra vetting in visa issue process..You grow up dude!
American Women with Master’s degrees in Computer Science from top American Universities, as myself ( I have Master’s degree from New York University), are fired by Google, Ebay, Amazon, Bloomberg, Apple, Oracle, Microsoft and other top American Corporations and replaced with these women from the third world countries with the third World education. What a disgrace!
Millions of American families are SIDELINED AND IN DISREPAIR! NO H.R.1044, NO H-1B visas, NO OPT!!!
Totally support you…they should repeal all H4 EADs, these people are talking about gender equality. Aren’t they already happy that our embassies granted H1bs to their husbands..now talk about greed they want more jobs for themselves too.
Be content in what was given to you by our nation. And stop asking for more rights.
If you have really got spines and talk about gender neutrality, then why don’t you convince an employer to file for your H1b, even you and your husband knows that with your housewife skill sets and fake resume we won’t hire you and H4 EAD is the back door for forcefully making your way into our companies.
On a fair level ground compete for H1b rather than cribbing.
And mind you , when our embassies gave ur husband’s H1b visa we didn’t sign a contract that we shall also give your wife a H4 EAD.
Now some scum bags will talk…oh we are on way to our greencards so give us H4 EAD to alleviate your financial issues.
Well know what…your financial issues is not our headache and we shouldn’t layoff our own people to give u visas.
Have issues with what cards u have been served…go back to your country instead of polluting our companies with your fake resumes
well said bobby. I support you on this. Indian american women are the greediest.
If companies like Google and same are laying off ppl… is not only because of H1… but the passion with which the other folks work…if it is not found in anyone.. they would be laid off… it’s not a any country based…. some third world countries like India have a very good educational system and that’s from the place so many educated people come here for opportunities
What’s the reason you got fired? If you think it was for an ill reason, you can always approach Court. I know few Americans who are too lazy at work and complain if they are replaced by some hard-working H1b. I admit some H4 EADs are lousy too but you can’t generalize.
I have not been laid off FYI…. I work for a social networking organization in Bay area, just that I am appalled seeing a hiring bias by my co-worker who tends to hire subordinates just because they speak Andhra language.
I am a mid-age American born and raised in California, and if I have to learn Telugu just so I can communicate with my team or subordinates hired by my co-worker truely doesn’t make any sense.
I am a senior developer and didn’t take a management job as for equal pay I am happy doing coding instead of dealing with people.
Now when my coworker got this developer on H4EAD from Telugu place in India …I was told though she is a housewife she had 8 years of experience on her resume which no one verified…if after 8 years work-ex u can’t create a simple String in Java…ur hopeless or ur resume is fake or ur Osmania University on ur LinkedIn is fake.
All I am saying is…hire American for American jobs…same was as in India u hire Indian for an Indian job not a Bangladeshi or a Nigerian…u guys do show a bias in India then why here ur opposing same bias.
And when I brought up with my coworker that the H4EAd can’t code..I hear pleading from the H4EAD worker….boss, we have a mortgage please understand my situation…my husband doesn’t earn much on h1…please don’t tell others I am bad at coding…
I come 8 hours to do actual coding…if I have to do work which should have been done by u too doesn’t make any sense ..why did u accept job in first place.
What you said is true, I have heard from my other friends also. I know similar Americans too but since English is their native language, they tell stories to bosses and survive. In worst case, if they are fired they attribute it to H1B again. These H1Bs and H4 EADs have become scapegoats. I have worked here on H1B earlier but now I’m on H4 since 2 years and because of the delays involved right now, it may take about more than a year to get my H4 EAD but pouring chill water on that hope now. I have sacrificed my career for my husband’s, but I feel is it worth all the hard work I have put to earn my engineering degree in distinction??? My knowledge and skills gone to the wind. I hate this life.
fake profile
I don’t buy you. A person with masters degree got fired?? There should be a proper reason they got to show you otherwise they would be at the other end of the justice. But your comments are racist toward women. There are lot of H4 people in despair sitting out.
Coming to the original point h1 exists to complement the lack of talent here and not the other way. Do you even know the process of h1? H1 is not alloted untill uscis is certain it will not take away an American job. Companies need to advertise the job in question in open market and can only apply if they cannot hire an American
This is rubbish. The presence of women in STEM fields has been declining largely because of the displacement of American workers by employment visa toting expatriates (predominantly male, largely from India, and from mostly one caste). H-4 would only ensure the displacement of more U.S. citizens.
Do you know that there are rules on how much percentage of H1B force a company can employ? If the share of Americans is intact why drop from STEM?