This talk examines how gender and gender inequality shape global talent migration, with a focus on flows to the United States. Conceptualizing gender as both an individual attribute and a structural condition, An shows how macro-level inequalities and micro-level aspirations jointly organize migration pathways. Using South Korea as a case study, the analysis demonstrates that women migrating to the U.S. are more educationally selective than men, suggesting that gender inequality drives women's talents abroad. The talk also introduces comparative work on Korea and Taiwan that investigates gendered return patterns among U.S.-trained PhDs.

Speaker:

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Minyoung An is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL). Her research investigates how gender shapes global talent flows and the career trajectories of highly skilled workers. Using large-scale datasets and mixed methods, she examines educational selectivity, gendered return migration, and transnational academic linkages. Her work advances understanding of how gender inequality structures pathways of skilled migration and global talent circulation.

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