Paper short abstract:

This study explores empirical evidence to shed new light on Uzbek migrants’ stories in the United States. Based on 20 migrants’ stories, I look at migration experiences, comparative life/job satisfaction, intention to return home or not, and gender norms.

Paper long abstract:

The United States is the biggest migrant-receiving country in the world, and it hosted over fifty million international migrants in 2021. Although migration movements from Central Asian countries to the U.S. started earlier, the number of Uzbek migrants increased after the independence of Uzbekistan. The Department of Homeland Security has declared that 1347 permanent residence statuses were given to citizens of Uzbekistan in 2020. Few studies have been focused on general Central Asian migrants and migration flows from Uzbekistan to the U.S. However, studies on migration linked with gender in the Uzbekistan case are understudied, basically due to a lack of data. This study explores empirical evidence to shed new light on Uzbek migrants’ stories in the United States. Based on the literature, I approach the analysis guided by two interlinked hypotheses: (1) migration intentions of both Uzbek men and women in the U. S. and (2) perceptions about migration dynamics and gender norms in the US.

Based on 20 migrants’ stories, I look at migration experiences, comparative life/job satisfaction, intention to return home or not, and gender norms. My initial findings from my pilot fieldwork on Uzbek migrants in the U.S. show that women are more satisfied with their life by self-realization.