Migrant women in male‐dominated sectors of the labour market: a research agenda

Abstract

There is a growing literature on female labour migration, but much of this focuses on women who move to work in labour‐market sectors where a large proportion of workers are women. This paper argues that there has been much less study of women who migrate to work in male‐dominated sectors of the labour market, and explores the nature of this lacuna within research on female migration. It then highlights the increasing presence of women migrants in the ICT sector as one example of an area that has received little study. Finally, the paper explores some reasons why a study of female migrant's experiences in male‐dominated sectors of the labour market is important, and what it can add to existing research on female migration more generally. In particular, it urges us to view gender as it intersects and overlaps with other social divisions to produce complex landscapes of female mobility. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Highly skilled migration between the Global North and South: gender, life courses and institutions

“…The dominant image of a skilled migrant is of a male, even in policy discourses where women are seen as co-movers. Kofman (2014), Raghuram (2008) and Roos (2013) caution policymakers from viewing skilled women merely as co-movers and encourage them to give due attention to their skills. Gender norms in countries of origin may act as push factors for skilled women to migrate, but these women may then end up facing other sets of discriminatory norms in host countries due to their migrant background and gender norms (Bagguley and Hussain 2007;Riaño and Baghdadi 2007).…”

Gendered Migrations and Global Social Reproduction

“…They depend on and reproduce class differences. Moreover, the sectors which seem to dominate global migration schemes are also often male dominated (Raghuram 2008;see Chapter 6).…”

“…These are not the only skilled sectors in which women are employed: female migrants are also engaged in male-dominated sectors of the socially reproductive labour market, such as medicine (Raghuram 2006(Raghuram , 2008, and where their role remains crucial. Mobility is eased in some of these sectors either because of the cultural capital that migrants bring or because of the particular form of human capital which require 'hard skills' so that the path to entry into the profession is made easier (Liversage 2009; see Chapter 7).…”

Razones para emigrar y retornar: Trayectorias internacionales del personal directivo y emprendedor de industrias innovadoras en España

“…Las mujeres cualificadas están protagonizando estrategias de movilidad internacional más frecuentemente que los hombres con su mismo nivel de cualificación. Ello se debe, muy probablemente, a que tratan de evitar las relaciones patriarcales y las rigideces del mercado laboral de sus sociedades de origen (Faggian et al, 2007;Raghuram, 2008).…”

“…En este sentido, la literatura feminista sostiene que las mujeres altamente cualificadas tienen más dificultades para llevar a cabo estrategias de movilidad en el extranjero o que se sienten menos atraídas por los destinos internacionales (Adler, 1984;Selmer y Leung, 2003;Ackers, 2004Ackers, , 2008Bastida, 2006). En cambio, otros trabajos destacan que la movilidad internacional tiene una gran relevancia para las mujeres, porque permite su desarrollo profesional y personal (Kofman, 1999;King y Zontini, 2000;Raghuram, 2008;González y Vergés, 2011).…”