Reframing the Migration Question: An Empirical Analysis of Men, Women and Gender in Mexico

The migration literature agrees on several key factors that motivate individual decisions to move: human capital investments, socioeconomic status, familial considerations, social networks, and local opportunities in origins relative to opportunities abroad. Yet further analysis of the social forces underlying these relationships reveals interwoven gender relations and expectations that fundamentally differentiate migration patterns, in particular who migrates and why. Data analysis of 14,000 individuals in 43 Mexican villages reveals several mechanisms through which the effects of gender play out in the migration process. Results suggest that although migrant networks provide support to new men and women migrants alike, high female employment rates reduce the likelihood that men, but not women, begin migrating. Education effects also emphasize the importance of examining gender differences. In keeping with the literature on Mexican migration, I find that men are negatively selected to migrate, but, conversely, higher education increases migration among women. My findings also question the portrayal of women as associational migrants, disclosing positive migration risks for never-married and previouslymarried women.