Gender, Diaspora and Development: The Ethiopian Highly-Skilled Diaspora's Notion of Home and Belonging

Abstract

Despite the rapid growth of technology, the changing nature of international migration of people and resources make it a challenge for many to maintain linkages with families and communities in their home countries. This in itself has also changed the way migrants, in particular women, maintain and create notions of home. Many migrants are forced to question their traditional ideal of what it means to belong to country, community, family and the way one relates to home. Such individuals are often involved in negotiating and renegotiating new identities that are separate from their ethnicity and or nationality. This chapter will attempt to frame the issues of mobilizing highly-skilled Ethiopian women in the diaspora, who, despite their love and connection to country, are not able to contribute to their full capacity. This is due to the limitations of women's roles as mothers, wives and daughters, and the lack of acknowledgement of women's roles in development. It will argue that education, which paradoxically provides a pathway for many to escape the gender roles placed upon them at home, has at the same time created a barrier for those who would like to contribute where they are or return home.