The gender dimension of return for highly-skilled migrants

Abstract

Although dynamics of return migration are highly gendered, gender remains as a relatively less studied dimension of return migration. Especially with regard to highly-skilled migrants, we know very little about what role gender plays in the decision-making processes related to their migration and return migration and experiences after return. This paper depends on 80 in-depth interviews with Turkish highly-skilled migrants who returned from Germany or the USA, and it focuses on the gender dimension of their migration and return migration experiences. It discusses gender differences in migration and return experiences in terms of their reasons for migration and experiences in the host country, reasons for return migration to Turkey, and their experiences in Turkey after return. The paper demonstrates that for highly-skilled women: 1) difficulties in balancing the demands of professional life and childcare is an important factor behind the decision to return to the home country; 2) gender discrimination based on social norms in the home country is more important than the professional life in the home country in making the re-adaptation process harder after return; 3) this type of discrimination in the home country is perceived more intensely after return compared to the period before migration.