Paper abstract:

International studies extensively discuss how the education and welfare of families usually change during labour mobility. This paper demonstrates how the perception of education is gradually changing in the context of labor migration from Tajikistan to Russia. Drawing on qualitative data obtained in both Tajikistan and in Russia, through the narrative inquiry research method, I illustrate how migrant workers change their deeply gendered perception of education (especially post-secondary) for their male and female family members. This paper shows how migrant workers are ready to sacrifice and endure challenges while being in migration, for the benefit of their children’s education, but more so for the boys’ education. I complexify, and discuss how the participants’ new valuing of women and girls’ education is the result of the inequalities they suffered while in Russia and also gender inequalities when they return to Tajikistan. I argue that access to education (especially post-secondary) for younger women is negotiated and dependent on numerous intersecting factors such as age, gender, migration experience, kinship structures, and financial support that can either hinder or facilitate this access. The paper concludes by arguing that although labour migration can positively influence perceptions of education; yet, it is not always translated into tangible actions. This paper is a segment from a larger research project focused on understanding changes in gender relations in the midst of labour mobility from Tajikistan to Russia.