A Right to Information (RTI) reply sent shockwaves through India's engineering elite: Nearly 38% of IIT students across 23 campuses were unplaced in 2024-25. That's not a statistic, that's a crisis.
And yet, in conversations, panel discussions, and political rhetoric, we still hear this one-liner parroted proudly: But... "one-third of Silicon Valley's tech workforce is Indian."
It's time we ask: So what?
That one-third didn't succeed because of the Indian education system. They succeeded despite it. If anything, their presence in the Valley is a loud indictment of how badly we've failed to create opportunities at home.
At the onset, let's clarify the number. According to a 23% of foreign-born tech professionals in the region hold Indian nationality, and nearly a third of all tech workers are of Indian origin. I agree, this is a phenomenal representation.
However, who are these Indians?
a) A sliver of the population: Top 1% scorers, elite engineering grads, English-educated urbanites.
c) Beneficiaries of migration and not products of a sound domestic ecosystem.
This isn't a story of systemic excellence. It's a story of selective escape.
Here's what life looks like for most students in India today.
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