The impact of gender relations in qualified migration

the case of Mexican and Colombian women

Abstract

This article aims to analyze, in a comparative way, the impact of gender relations within qualified women migration experiences. The study contexts include, on the one hand, Mexican women who depart from Monterrey to Houston and, on the other, Colombian women who migrate to Buenos Aires. The comparison is made by articulating some gender, social position, ethnicity and national origin variables, along with the different phases of the migratory process which is motivated in both cases, because of work and/or study purposes. The investigations have been developed though a qualitative method by means of semi-structured interviews and life stories. The results show changes and permanence of gender roles with re-traditionalization processes, which together, reflect the migrants’ self-representation and their perception of “being a woman”.