The scale and complexity of international migration has made immigration a concern for many nations. Previous research on migration had generally failed to include studies of women as migrants and workers. With the increased participation of women in various migration systems, there is a growing research literature on women migrants and their work experiences. This paper discusses several themes that are useful in organizing research on women, migration, and work, and consists of four parts. It begins with a review of types of migration systems and highlights the importance of specifying migration systems when examining women migrants and work. The main theoretical approaches in migration and labor are discussed in the second part of the paper. This is followed by a section on several dimensions critical for research on women migrants. In particular, it shows that the effects of gender, race and ethnicity, social class, cohort, and history should be explicitly considered because the migration and labor market experiences of women migrants profoundly differ from that of men. The paper concludes with a discussion of some research and policy implications.

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cultural anthropology International Migration--women women's migration migration research economics population demography Population Dynamics labour migration Women's Rights Ethnic Groups ethnic group socioeconomic status Cultural Background social status health care manpower Health Manpower Socioeconomic Factors Migrants--women policy implication socioeconomics Article migration international migration population and population related phenomena Demographic Factors World Women's Status Emigration and Immigration Economic Factors Transients and Migrants social class Population Characteristics Human Resources Macroeconomic Factors employment Labor Force women's issue Culture