Make It or Break It—Women's Career Interruptions in the Age of Professional Migration: Analysis of German Female Migrants to the United States

Abstract

This research focuses on women's career interruptions as a result of their husbands' professional assignment to a foreign country. Migration is viewed as having a long lasting impact on women's careers, probably as much as having children (Halfacree 1995). Women are often not allowed to work and are treated as dependents (tied migrants) of their husbands in the receiving country. The questions raised are: what overall impact does this situation have on women's careers and what strategies do these women employ to further their careers? Based on thirty-four in-depth interviews with women who migrated temporarily or permanently from Germany to the United States, this study shows how women employ their skills to navigate their way through career breaks caused by migration. Cultural ideas of women and work outside the home and opportunities or barriers caused by a different social system interact with values and regulations from the native country. The answers indicate that this experience can either be empowering for future career decisions or lead to a more traditional understanding of gender roles.