Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

Qualitative study of background factors facilitating women's migration to the United States; Case study of Iranian women migrants in Boston universities

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

Kh. Padashi Asl 1
M. Abbaszadeh 2
T. Aghayari 3

1 MA Student, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Law, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran

3 Associate Professor, Department of Law, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22035/isih.2024.5069.4873
Abstract
Many highly-educated women in Iran are constantly migrating abroad to access excellent facilities and take advantage of appropriate educational amenities. Considering that women are part of the useful human resources, their migration can have consequences for Iranian society. In this article, using the qualitative method and the phenomenological approach, we examined the underlying factors for the migration of women to the United States. The sampling method is purposive or criterion-based. In a phenomenological research, the purposive sampling strategy is used to select the desired samples and units. The seven-step Claizzi (Claizzi) and Diekmann analysis methods, which are used in the interpretive phenomenological approach, were employed in this study. Identifying the lived experiences of Iranian female students about the advantages of studying and working at universities in Boston, the push factors for living, working and studying in Iran, and generally discovering the lived experiences of Iranian female students are among the main objectives of this research. In this study, we intend to find the meanings that migrant and educated women give to studying at universities in Boston, and especially the diverse lifestyles in that country. The interviewees, emphasizing their high education in Iran and familiarity with the liberal culture of the West, mentioned categories such as patriarchal stereotypes in Iran, the dominance of the traditional lifestyle, and the dominance of politics over the public sphere as obstacles to their self-expression. During the interviews, they insisted on the prevalence of this neo-patrimonial culture in Iran and considered their migration as an outcome of this culture.

Keywords

International migration
feminization of migration
neo-patrimonial culture
lived experiences
Iranian migrant
female students
inefficiency of educational system
Subjects
Afshari, A., Moini, S.R., & Ansari, H. (2020). A Study on relationship between social capital and juveniles’ tendency to migration. Strategic studies of sport and youth, 19(47), 9-30.
Akbari Javar, H., Khalaj, A., & Banay Razi, S. (2018). Immigration of Pharmacists from Iran to Abroad. Journal of the Academy of Medical Sciences, 2(2), 222-247.
Akman, V. (2011). Factors in flouncing international student migration: A survey and evaluators of Turkeys case. Interdisciplinary, Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 13(3). doi:10.1177/1745499915571718
Aminuddin, M. F., Pallikadavath, S., Kamanda, A., Sukesi, K., Rosalinda, H., & Hatton, K. (2019). The social and economic impact of international female migration on left-behind parents in East Java, Indonesia. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 28(1), 97-114. doi: 10.1177/0117196818815512
Aminuddin, M. F., Pallikadavath, S., Kamanda, A., Sukesi, K., Rosalinda, H., & Hatton, K. (2019). The social and economic impact of international female migration on left-behind parents in East Java, Indonesia. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 28(1), 97-114. doi: 10.1177/0117196818815512
Bazargan Harandi, A. (2019). Qualitative and mixed research methods. Tehran, Iran: Didār.
Bozorgzad, S., Kazemipour, S., & Mohseni, R. A. (2019). Elite Attitudes Towards Social, Economic, and Scientific Factors at Origin and Destination and its Effect on their Tendency to Emigrate Abroad. Journal of Population Association of Iran, 14(28), 141-169. doi: 10.22034/jpai.2020.239441
Daniela, B. (2012). Modern gravity models of internal migration; the case of Romania. Theoretical and Applied Economics, 4(4), 127-144.
Diba, F., Gholipour, A., & Pourezzat, A. (2020). A Future-Oriented Analysis of Academic Reverse Migration. Strategy, 29(2), 113-137.
Dribe, M., Eriksson, B., & Scalone, F. (2019). Migration, marriage and social mobility: Women in Sweden 1880–1900. Explorations in Economic History, 71, 93-111. doi: 10.1016/j.eeh.2018.09.003
Fleury, A. (2016). Understanding women and migration: A literature review. Washington, DC, 55.
Foroutan, Y., & Sheikh, M. (2018). Tendency towards international migration: The case of Ferdousi University’s students in Mashhad. Sociology of Social Institutions, 4(10), 61-79. doi: 10.22080/ssi.2018.1735
Ghosh, J. (2009). Migration and gender empowerment: Recent trends and emerging issues. Human Development Research Paper 04, United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report Office, New York.
Hercog, M., & Van de Laar, M. (2017). Motivations and constraints of moving abroad for Indian students. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 18, 749-770.
Marrow, H. B., & Klekowski von Koppenfels, A. (2020). Modeling American migration aspirations: How capital, race, and national identity shape Americans’ ideas about living abroad. International Migration Review, 54(1), 83-119.
Mihi-Ramirez, A., & Kumpikaite, V. (2014). Economics reason of migration from point of view of students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 109, 522-526. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.500
Mihi-Ramirez, A., & Kumpikaite, V. (2014). Economics reason of migration from point of view of students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 109, 522-526. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.500
Nobahar, E., Ghorbani, F., & Hadadmoghadam, M. (2021). Investigating the relationship between unemployment and net Immigration: A spatial econometric approach. QJERP, 29(98), 135-176. doi: 10.52547/qjerp.29.98.135
Rezaei, M., & Sadeghi, R. (2021). Migration aspiration of Iranians and its determinants.  Journal of Contemporary Sociological Research, 10(18), 35-62. doi: 10.22084/csr.2021.21216.1772
Sabzei, M.T. (2016). Sociological Analysis of The Iranian Public Sphere After the Post Islamic Revolution Era (1357-1394). Social Sciences, 22(71), 48-89.
Sadeghi, R., & Seyyed Hosseini, S. M. (2019). The degree of young people's desire for international migration and its determining factors in Tehran. Strategic Studies of Sport and Youth, 18(43).
Safaei Movahed, S. (2011). The difference between the explanation of hidden norms in the selection of a supervisor in the Faculty of Mathematical Sciences and Educational Sciences (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Tarbiat Moalem University.
Shirkhani, M. A., & Baizidi, R. (2018). Immigration, human capital exit and development: comparing Iran and Turkey. Political and International Approaches, 10(2), 98-122.
Simpson, N. (2017). Demographic and economic determinants of migration. IZA World of Labor. doi: 10.15185/izawol.373
Strielkowski, W., & Bilan, Y. (2016). Migration aspirations & decisions: A comparative study of Turkey and Ukraine. Intellectual Economics, 10(1), 18–27. doi: 10.1016/j.intele.2016.05.001
Sultana, H., & Fatima, A. (2017). Factors influencing migration of female workers: a case of Bangladesh. IZA Journal of Development and Migration, 7(1). doi: 10.1186/s40176-017-0090-6
Tindall, L., Smith, J.A., Flower, P. & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 6(4), 346–347. doi:10.1080/14780880903340091
Urbański, M. (2022). Comparing Push and Pull Factors Affecting Migration. Economies, 10(1), 21. doi: 10.3390/economies10010021
Van Mol, C., & Timmerman, C. (2013). Should I Stay or Should I Go? An Analysis of the Determinants of Intra‐European Student Mobility. Population, Space and Place, 20(5), 465–479. Portico. doi: 10.1002/psp.1833
Vasel, G. (2019). Examining the lived experience of abused mothers: a phenomenological study (Master's thesis). Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz.
Vedadhir, A., & Eshraghi, S. (2023). Attitude toward migrate abroad in Iranian medical community: A qualitative study. Quarterly Journal of Research and Planning in Higher Education, 25(2), 23-42.
Send comment about this article
Enter Name.
Enter a valid email address.
Enter a vaid affiliation.
Enter comments (At leaset 10 words)
CAPTCHA Image
Enter Security Code Correctly.

  • Receive Date 21 December 2023
  • Revise Date 08 April 2024
  • Accept Date 07 May 2024

Home

Editorial Board

Publication Ethics

Reviewers

Submission

Contact Us