What Do American Engineers Think About Their Indians?

We all carry subconscious first impressions in workplace. I have a question (naive one maybe) that I’d appreciate some perspectives on.

I’m Indian and have been working in the U.S. for the past 11 years, collaborating with colleagues across different backgrounds, including many Indian and White professionals, as well as diverse teams. One cultural aspect I find interesting is how opinions about technical ability and communication styles can sometimes be shaped by generalizations or making judgements. For example, among Indian developers, I’ve noticed 2 common perspectives about White engineers: 1. some believe they are not the strongest programmers or not technically strong, 2. while others consider them excellent communicators (hence great engineers). However, I rarely hear any Indian instinctively associate White engineers with strong programming skills.

This got me wondering—how do White developers initially perceive Indian engineers? In my experience, working with Indian developers tend to be quite polarized—some are exceptionally skilled, while others below average. I’m curious about how we are generally perceived in the industry especially with the white and whether similar patterns exist from other viewpoints.