The Migration of Career-Starter Hungarian Graduate Women to the Countries of the European Union
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1. Social Capital—The Feminization of Brain Drain?
2.2. Migration Theories and Graduate Female Emigration
3. Data and Methodology
- What motivates migration among the highly educated women we interviewed?
- What kind of factors impact successful integration and assimilation among women who work abroad?
4. Results and Discussions
4.1. The Motivation of Employment Abroad for Young Graduate Women and the Characteristics of Their Integration
The Motivation for Migration and the Level of Satisfaction
“I saw that if I wanted to move out of those 30 square meters, I wouldn’t be able to save up for it. That was one reason. The other was that there was a limit, there was a learning curve, from that point there was no way forward at home. The field I was in was getting very boring because things were just repetitive, and I already knew there were much more interesting deals in London or elsewhere, one could learn more, there was more work to do. But if you are up to the task, it may be better” (33, credit analyst, London).
“There are things I can’t change, like my (student) loan … in order to be able to make a living and send money to my mother as well, it seemed like the logical option, that I had to go abroad. I don’t know how well this would work at home” (27, financial analyst in London with an MA degree from Spain).
“It was basically that I started my Ph.D. and I wasn’s doing very well with the research, I only did work that the company needed me to … so I thought I was never going to complete it, and then I applied for a Swiss scholarship. I worked here for a year, it was clear to me that if I could, I would like to stay here because of the Ph.D. scholarship; the doctorate is in practice work so I got a salary from the local institution, from which they deduct social insurance, then if later the person becomes unemployed, they will get unemployment benefits because this will have been withdrawn from the scholarship, so I could apply for unemployment benefits, I started looking for a job, I was interviewed about ten times, I started working here in April, I was looking for work for practicallyh half a year. I wanted to go to Sweden or I don’t know. Actually, somewhere in Western Europe, where research has a future and there’s money for it”. (30, living in Zurich, bioengineer)
“My grandmother was retired. The orphan’s allowance for 3 children plus her pension, max. HUF 200,000 [monthly income for the family]. They lived quite modestly [at home]. When I studied at university, I had been supporting myself for quite a long time. By the time I was 14, when I moved into the student college, I was leading an independent life. I was careful with [the orphan’s allowance], paid for the hostel, textbooks, bought clothes, paid for lunch, stuff like that. [My siblings] are grown up now, they also live abroad. My brother is 4 years younger than me, he lives here in the UK, my sister is 5 years younger, she is in Poland. I think [foreign employment] is a matter of living standards. After university I had a job [in Hungary]. The trouble was that the financial crisis came right then, but the person who employed me was from a foreign country. I started as an intern. He thought that I was able to do more, and I wanted to show that I could reach a certain level, and that may sound self-absorbed, but I felt that one could do everything and anything. Of course, within the ethical framework that is often missing in a particular environment. But today I think it over again, who should I want to prove anything to? You always move forward compared to yourself, not to others” (33, economist, financial analyst in London).
“Hungary was never enough for me, and the opportunities were not such that would allow you to have a normal standard of living, especially as it relates to social life. Obviously, I didn’t want to live with my parents forever, with their support, and in order to live on the same standard of living as the way I had grown up, Hungarian salaries are not high enough. My mom worked in child protection, and I grew up into the social care profession, so I felt that this was my calling, my talent is in this, people trust me, theya are open towards me, I have empathy, I don’t care if I don’t become a millionaire, but I felt that I had to do this” (28, working in his profession as a social politician in Brighton).
“Well, I have been to a lot of places, I went to interviews in many places, but as I see it, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Especially if you sign up from the Internet. Everywhere in Hungary who you know… so there was also a place where they were expressly hostile to me because I had lived abroad and they did not like that” (26, mechanical engineer, Burghausen).
“I had several jobs, indeed with a multinational company and with smaller companies as well. Yet somehow nothing ever really worked, and in the end, I had had enough, because after all, I didn’t want to stay in Hungary for long, anyway, it was my parents who insisted. But, I really wasn’t leaving behind any kind of career, so there was nothing to keep me. Basically, I have found one or two of these waitress jobs where I think they would employ me, only, I’m still waiting on a place that should have answered already, that would be an HR job, so it would be more appropriate for my qualifications, I don’t want to start another job before I know this [application] was successful or not. I think they are 100% supportive, my mom definitely, my dad also supports me so I really can’t say a word, because they supported me coming out here financially as well, to try and start over, only, they wanted me to stay there, but then I think they realized byt now that I’m an adult and sooner or later I’ll come if I want to” (25, economist, Paris).
“There were no job interviews according to my qualifications. There were two big reasons [for coming abroad], that I was at home with my family in the village, so, the village as an environment, compared to Debrecen, so compared to a city where I had lived [when I was studying at university], and I could go where I wanted. My friends were there. Well, most of my friends stayed there or they were tied to that place, and when I went home it was different. I kept in touch with them on Skype and exchanged messages, but for me, this was a step backward, a narrower space than what I had got used to. One that I didn’t know how to get out of when I had no money even to travel to Debrecen anymore. That is, to leave the place where I was at the time. And that hit me pretty hard” (27, geographer, lives in Stuttgart).
“I wanted to graduate from a top university, to improve my chances on the job market, and the Netherlands was the country where EU students get the cheapest education. For me, this was the least likely option in my mind that I go home. I wanted to try to stay abroad. If I had stayed at home, I wouldn’t be doing the same. So I don’t think I would be starving because I’d be doing something different, I just like to do this” (26, economist, with a doctorate from Rotterdam).
“… then I came here thinking that if I do not hate this country from the bottom of my heart, I will not move back home” (31, sociologist lives in Sheffield, with a doctorate from the UK).
“I went through the interview processes properly and completely. I got all of [my jobs] this way, starting with NATO, my first professional training, and all the rest that followed; that I took the necessary steps” (27, has lived abroad for 5 years living abroad, financial analyst in London).
“We had relied on each other with Balázs, which was good, and at the same time it was not so good, and really, you can also rely on your family even at a distance, they can honestly provide a lot of mental help” (32, has lived in the Netherlands for 10 years, did her MSc in finance–accounting, high prestige position at a multinational company).
5. Factors Influencing Successful Foreign Integration
5.1. Relationship-Building and Integration among Women Who Obtained a Degree at a Foreign University
“Integration has never been a problem for the most part, and I think people have different levels of demand, because there are those for whom it is more important, those for whom it is less so; people who were my colleagues at Moody’s, they are very good friends of mine to this day. So I don’t feel like I wasn’t able to integrate or find friends” (27, financial-accounting degree, lives in London).
“Because of university, there was already an environment that made it easy at the beginning, and I made lots and lots of friends. At first, I didn’t want to move away from there. Then, the city is very good, relatively small, but not too small. It’s in a gorgeous area, the people here are incredibly nice. I think that when my contract expires next year, if I apply for jobs then I will try to make sure they’re around here, so that I do not have to move. I’ve really gcome to like the place, and I have a favorite coffee shop. My friends here… while in Birmingham, I have friends from the university there on the one hand, and on the other, I have, basically, met a group of people who lived in the same part of town as I did, and then we went out with them everywhere. Here the relationship netork is a bit wider and a little more extensive and varied, but essentially one of the most important elements is the workplace” (31, sociologist, with a doctorate from the UK, lives in Sheffield, teaches at a university).
“I’m the type everybody knows, the fishmonger knows me, the greengrocer knows me, the baker knows me, everyone knows everything, the fishmonger knew first that I was pregnant because he noticed it. Everyone on the street greets everyone else, it is just that kind of neighborhood. There are 12 flats in a house, we stick together, we have barbecues together in the summer, we can call on each other at any time we want, we bring a bottle of wine and talk, so all this is absolutely there. What is not there is my 5 friends, and I will never have them either, because the Dutch are not the kind to make friends; that is, they make friends at school and at university but not after that … Yes, so I have good acquaintances—it was usually me who initiated these relationships—with whom [contact] is frequent, we talk, meet, but the relationship is not the same as with my college friends, with whom I can discuss everything, anything” (36, lives in The Hague, graduated as MA in the Netherlands, works in HR).
5.2. Networking and Integration Abroad with a Degree from Hungary
“We four found a place to live in, so it’s good for us because we moved out here so that we knew each other. But we go pubbing or go away to have fun with friends who have a car. We get into the car in the morning, and then we’ll go to such nice places in England. Well, yes, many times I miss my friends from Hungary because they were my real friends with whom I went to university and high school” (28, social policy expert, lives in Hertfordshire).
“Well, integration, you must say, in Switzerland, is terribly difficult, terribly closed people, so I have been here for more than two years now and I can count on one hand how many Swiss people I speak to, on the other hand, I usually say that Zurich is not part of Switzerland, but an international island in Switzerland, practically you can go without talking to Swiss people, and my friends are all foreigners of course” (28, graduated in international business, works for a cosmetic company in Zürich).
“There is no such thing as a neighbor relationship because the English people, so to say, are not so friendly, at work, it was me to carry the openness and warmth, so there is no neighbor relationship, people don’t talk so much to one another, I was able to fit in, but it’s culturally dependent” (28 years old, social policy expert, lives in Brighton).
“I think it is possible to live in the Netherlands smoothly so that a person does not speak Dutch. And this is so, I think, in very few countries. For example, in Spain or Italy, I could not imagine that one cannot speak the local language, the Netherlands is one such country. Because they speak English very well. Yes” (32, financial-accounting degree, lives in The Hague).
“We often follow the great fashion for brunch, on Saturday or Sunday, we get together with friends, have coffee, have breakfast, now, for example, we are going away with friends for a long weekend” (28, horticulturist, lives in London, works in a winery).
“I came out a long time ago, and I did not have my child then, no boyfriend, no one, and then I was forced to socialize, and then I came to have new relationships with people who have had children since then” (29, international studies expert, now on child care leave, lives in Nice).
“Here I feel that my work has some meaning in the sense that they, make use of what I do, so I see that it has some relevance for the institution I work for, which I never felt at home. And, obviously, all of us want a job that makes you feel that it makes sense what you do. And I feel that it is obvious here, which was not like that there, but otherwise, if I look at its material side, I am in a much safer position and can maintain a much higher standard of living. I always measure it with the orange juice, so in Hungary I couldn’t afford the orange juice, but I can buy it here. I always say that making your drinks with syrup is a poverty indicator for me. I hated the syrup so much in my childhood because it always meant to me that we could not afford Coca-Cola” (31, sociologist, did her Ph.D. in England, lives in Sheffield, teaches at a university).
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
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Czibere, I.; Schranz, E. The Migration of Career-Starter Hungarian Graduate Women to the Countries of the European Union. Soc. Sci. 2020, 9, 62. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9050062
Czibere I, Schranz E. The Migration of Career-Starter Hungarian Graduate Women to the Countries of the European Union. Social Sciences. 2020; 9(5):62. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9050062
Chicago/Turabian StyleCzibere, Ibolya, and Edit Schranz. 2020. "The Migration of Career-Starter Hungarian Graduate Women to the Countries of the European Union" Social Sciences 9, no. 5: 62. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9050062