The Migration of Career-Starter Hungarian Graduate Women to the Countries of the European Union

Abstract

In our paper, we present the reasons for and characteristics of the increasing migration of graduate women, mostly undertaken alone. In Hungary, in the context of the acceleration of migration experienced after 2010, two phenomena can be observed: (1) Due to positive selection a high proportion of well-trained young graduates have moved to live abroad; (2) over the past few years, a higher proportion of those migrating for work have been female graduates in their maternity age. Thus, not only is the process of weakening of the male dominance among the emigrants clearly perceptible, but a Hungary-related version of the feminization of the brain drain phenomenon due to the labor market demand of the host countries is also evolving. In this study, we examine the motivations of graduate women to work abroad and the success of their integration. Our qualitative study examines motivations for migration among college graduate females, who are just starting their career. We have explored social forces that influence emigration among the highest educated. We have also studied integration and assimilation strategies among Hungarian women working in the European Union. Our findings contribute to and extend research that focuses on push and pull factors in migration, as well as the interpretation of gender differences in migration, especially among the highest educated.