KOCHI: Women in Kerala view migration as an opportunity to challenge patriarchal norms and pursue personal growth, including the choice of partner and age of marriage, a recent study has revealed.
The study, “Middle-class Indian students: Migration recruiters and aspirations” by Anand Panamthottam Cherian of George Mason University, US, and S Irudaya Rajan from the International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMD), also highlights Kerala’s migration-friendly ecosystem, where over 50% of surveyed students aspire to move abroad.
Rajan, chair of the IIMD and former professor at Centre for Development Studies (CDS), told TNIE that female students take migration as an opportunity to escape from peer and cultural pressure of getting married and having children. “Going abroad makes it easy for women to choose partners of their liking and settle as per their choice. Parents are also accommodating of the choice of partners when their girl child is abroad,” he said.
The peer-reviewed paper written after in-depth interviews with prospective students in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, and Kozhikode highlights that parents, too, are driven by the social benefits of migration, with many recognising its potential to elevate their family status. For instance, middle-class parents encourage children to migrate abroad, citing the respect and high social standing it would bring, it says.
According to the study, women wish to migrate as they want to come out of the dependence they have had over the years and to avoid surveillance from family and relatives—from going out to deciding what to wear. Many wish for a transition from a ‘village girl to a cosmopolitan girl’, it says.
‘KMS 2023 supports trend of rising female migration’
“Migration helps, especially women students, acquire the ability to provide new gendered possibilities for experimenting with speech and attire. It provides agency to women in a patriarchal society in a way that facilitates their empowerment,” says the study.
Rajan noted that the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) 2023 supports the trend of increasing female migration, particularly among students.
The survey reveals that 54.4% of student emigrants from Kerala are males while 45.6% are females. This shows a narrower gender disparity among student emigrants compared to the overall emigrant population from Kerala, where males comprise over 80%.
KMS-2023 also reveals a significant surge in student migration from Kerala, with the number almost doubling in just five years.
It adds that Kerala is poised to become one of the top states in terms of students pursuing education abroad.
This reflects the Kerala students’ desire for high-quality education and better career opportunities.
The survey estimates that 2.5 lakh student migrated from Kerala as of 2023.