Foreign, Female, and Physician: Gender, Migration and the experiences of Asian Indian Women Physicians in the U.S.

Abstract: The passage of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 resulted in the migration of foreign physicians in the US and today foreign born physicians account for a substantial percentage as U.S. physicians. Immigrant women are also part of this professional work and have a higher level of education compared to American born women. However, little is known about the migration of women physicians, or their experiences as physicians. Using oral interviews with Indian immigrant women professionals in the Midwest, this study provides some insights into the effects of gender and migration: women physicians were more likely to migrate through marriages to men in the U.S. rather than individually. In addition, this paper provides vignettes from immigrant women’s work life. In doing so, it draws attention to the intersection of gender, and immigrant status in shaping American medical work; it also highlights the ways women resist their racialization individually and collectively.