i) Outline a theory stating how migrant-supporting values are spread between people and across generations in Mexico, and how they subsequently influence individual behavior to perpetuate out-migration in the US.
ii) Draw on a unique source of survey data to document the existence of a culture of migration and confirm its connection to migratory behavior.
Children from families involved in US migration are more likely to aspire to live and work in the U.S. and these aspirations, in turn, influence their behavior, lowering the odds that they will continue in school, and raising the odds of their eventual out-migration to the U.S.
The essence of the culture-of-migration argument is that nonmigrants observe migrants to whom they are socially connected and seek to emulate their migratory behavior. Seeing friends, relatives and neighbors dramatically improve their socioeconomic circumstances through U.S. labor, and hearing returned migrants selectively relay stories of thrilling adventures and cosmopolitan experiences north of the border, young Mexicans acquire aspirations that lead them psychologically to invest less in Mexico and more in the prospect of life and work north of the border, thus increasing the odds that they actually do leave school to enter the transnational migrant workforce.
Through a quantitative analysis of survey data gathered from primary, secondary and preparatory students interviewed in the Mexican state of Zacatecas, they confirm the basic propositions of qualitative fieldworkers who have argued for the importance of a culture of migration in promoting international movement between Mexico and the U.S. It has been indicated that as a family’s level of involvement in U.S. migration increases, children are progressively more likely to report an aspiration to live and work north of the border.
", keyword0="Culture", keyword1="International Migration", keyword2="Mexican Communities", keyword3="Migration", keyword4="Transnational Movement", keyword5="US", type="journal" }