Migrant networks and the immigrant professional: An analysis of the role of weak ties

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Population Research and Policy Review 20: 9-31, 2001. (C) 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 9

Migrant networks and the immigrant professional: An analysis of the role of weak ties

ANN D. BAGCHI TIAA-CREF, New York, USA

Abstract. Weak ties, particularly those to potential employers, play a more important role than strong ties in the immigration of professionals to the United States. I operationalize network strength through the class of admission variable in the Immigration and Naturalization Service's public use data files, Immigrants Admitted to the United States, 1972-1992. I also examine the differential impact of legislative measures on the availability of strong versus weak ties for four groups of professionals: physicians, nurses, engineers and scientists. Not only do weak ties figure heavily on the immigration experiences of professionals, but those impacts affect women differently than men. Professional women rely more heavily on strong ties than on weak ties when compared with males in their respective professions, with the exception of nursing. These findings suggests a need for further study into the migration experiences of professionals as well as more research into how gendered networks develop among immigrant professionals and how those networks influence (either positively or negatively) immigrant adaptation to United States' society.

Keywords: Gender, Immigration, Legislation, Networks, Professionals

Introduction A majority of the research into immigrant networking examines only lowerskilled workers and/or those from proximate sending areas. Given the dramatic increase in Asian immigration to the United States over the past two decades and the large numbers of professionals within their ranks past studies appear inadequate in addressing the experiences of all immigrants.

One particular shortcoming of previous studies entails their emphasis on the role of intimate relations (e.g., to family, friends and community members) and the subsequent neglect of more impersonal ties. Formal relationships can play an important role in immigration, however, particularly when the individual immigrant possesses personal resources which encourage mobility. In particular, professionals respond to the legal, economic and social environments in determining which route to follow in their quest for opportunities abroad. Although a majority of studies fail to consider differences in access and use of networks between lower-skilled and professionals,

10 ANN D. BAGCHI the authors of several studies (see, for example, Bashi 1997;...