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

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

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

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

3 MA Student, 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

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

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