Peopling Skilled International Migration: Indian Doctors in the UK

This article argues that whereas the movement of Indian doctors to the UK appears an economically driven and shapedphenomenon akin to other examples of highly skilled international migration, when the practical consciousness of participants is investigated through qualitative methods, the migration can also be seen as a cultural and social phenomenon.

Abstract

This article uses a case‐study approach in relation to the migration of Indian doctors to the UK in order to illustrate the complexity and multi‐levelled nature of explanations for international migration. It argues that whereas, at the level of discursive consciousness, the movement of Indian doctors to the UK appears an economically driven and shapedphenomenon akin to other examples of highly skilled international migration, when the practical consciousness of participants is investigated through qualitative methods, the migration can also be seen as a cultural and social phenomenon. Although migrants move to “better themselves”, they also make choices based on factors such as the kind of novels they read as children or “taken for granted” familial obligations rooted in the everyday life of their culture.