Do Men Come First? Evidence of Gendered Migration Patterns in the Russian Federation

Erin T. Hofmann, Utah State University

This paper asks whether immigration in Russia has followed a pattern in which initial migration flows are dominated by male labor migrants, with later flows characterized by family reunification migrants and dominated by women. This pattern has been documented in the Mexico-U.S. migration system as well as migration flows to Europe. However, Russia might not experience this pattern, due to the high levels of human and social capital among women in Russia’s main sending countries. Using official migration statistics and findings from a recent survey of migrants in three Russian cities, I argue that migration into Russia during the 1990s was dominated by highly educated migrants with strong social ties to Russia, many of whom were women. Migration since 2000 follows more typical patterns of labor migration and is dominated by men, but these recent male-dominated flows are built upon earlier social networks that were often established by women.