The consequences of international migration for the status of women: a Turkish study

Abstract

As part of a larger inquiry into the consequences of international migrationfor those who remain in the country of origin, 234 adults in four Turkishprovinces were interviewed concerning matters (mostly opinions) pertain-ing to the status of women. Three migrant-status categories weredefined; (a) Returned migrants, (b) Non-migrant close kin or friends ofmigrants, and, as a control group, (c) All others. Controlling for age, sex,urban-rural residence, and schooling, group (a) was the most likely toexpress“non-traditional” views, and group (c) the least. Group (b) was in between.Of the two possible explanations for such a pattern – recruitment andsocialization – we found recruitment highly significant. The evidence forsocialization, however, was decidedly mixed. Some of the considerablediversity of viewpoints pertaining to the status of women found in thisinquiry are doubtless causally associated with the experience of migration,whether direct or indirect. But there is also evidence here of a society in theprocess of rapid change; and it is these more general social changes, notmigration as such, that would appear to be more likely to affect the statusof women.There is little support for the contention that the type of internationalmigration that has involved so many Turks these past three decades –migration that has for the most part been temporary and economicallymotivated and has consisted of movement from relatively poor agriculturalor but slightly industrialized areas to rich, highly industrialized ones characterized by marked differences in language, religion, and overallculture – is going to result in moving the status of women from a more to aless “traditional” plane.