This article analyzes the career paths of a number of Columbian university women who have pursued graduate studies in Mexico and explores the main patterns of their insertion in the professional labor market in both Colombia and Mexico. The focus is to examine the way these career paths have been shaped by the experience of mobility for the purpose of study during both the stage prior to international migration and the subsequent period, whether they remained in the country of destination or returned to their country of origin. Within this context, the author analyzes the place occupied and the meaning acquired by international mobility for the purpose of study in the career paths of university women. The analysis constitutes an exploratory case study based on a qualitative research design, using the theoretical and methodological perspective of the life course. Longitudinal and retrospective information was compiled on the basis of in-depth interviews with migrant women, making it possible to reconstruct their biographies. The analysis shows that this group of women has used various strategies, including resistance and adaptation as alternative means of coping with the professional labor market in Colombia and Mexico. This analysis was used to identify four types of career paths involving a combination of decisions as to whether remain in the host society or return to the country of origin, on the basis of two areas of knowledge.

Skilled international migration South-south mobility and gender Professional labor market Career paths

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