The interplay between Gender, Occupations and Family migration in Germany. (GOFAM)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Johannes Huinink, since 9/2015
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2013 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 243364451

The determination of internal migrations and the impact they have on job-related achievement is to date still unequal between German men and women, especially between husbands and wives who move as a couple. Despite far-reaching social and political developments toward the equalization of socio-economic opportunities across men and women, family moves of dual income households still favour the careers of husbands while they can hold back the one of wives. Although academic interest on the topic raises influential and contested theoretical explanations, the mixed evidence of the associated empirical literature does not fully explain this form of gender inequality. A promising and still underdeveloped line of research to solve this puzzle arises from the extensive and pervasive structural separation of men and women in different lines of paid work or occupations. Neither pre-migration employment nor wage levels of spouses rule out sex differences, but some incipient literature indicates that partners’ occupational characteristics and occupational trajectories can be more informative of the persisting gender inequalities in family migration processes ceteris paribus. This research proposal aims to begin filling this gap by examining the structural effects of occupations as well as occupational choices and trajectories of men and women. It aims to understand sex differences in migration propensities to move for individual career advancement, spousal roles or motives in the event of migration (i.e. lead- and tied-migrant) and job-related outcomes among dual income families. Together with an integrative conceptual framework of structural, life course and behavioural perspectives, I will offer novel and sound empirical evidence applying state-of-the-art longitudinal methods of quantitative analysis to existing complementary longitudinal data sources to mostly analyse patterns in contemporary Germany. Substantive and methodological advances to improve on traditional research by featuring (i) unveiling the interdependence between spouses in family migration decisions with dyadic data, (ii) solving sources of self-selection by applying selection models and exploring family migration decisions in a context of alternative choices (i.e. union dissolution and recurrent mobility), (iii) examining the long term effects of initial and repeated family migration events on occupational trajectories and their interdependencies with other reasons for occupational career interruptions (i.e. childbirth) and (iv) cross-country comparison between Germany, Australia and Britain to unveil institutional specificities behind the occupational structure, the welfare state and the gender relations. The results of this project will make important contributions to debates on the processes that lead to gender inequalities of family migration and will inform policy makers about the extension of the effects of a gendered occupational structure in household decisions.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Australia
• Participating Persons: Professor Dr. Michael Feldhaus; Dr. Francisco Perales
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Dr. Sergi Vidal, until 8/2015