Migration, Gender, and Health from a Global Perspective

In this new line of research, we bring global cultural dynamics to the study of global health trends and outcomes. In a Berlin University Alliance (BUA) funded collaborative project, focusing on migration, gender, and health nexus, we examine global health concerns regarding preventive medicine (e.g. vaccination, cancer screening). While previous studies emphasize systemic factors (such as access and discrimination) that affect migrant participation in healthcare, the possible individual-level mechanisms at play are less well-known. We are particularly interested in the role of individuality traits that are fostered by global cultural templates: self-confidence, efficacy, and autonomy. These traits are linked with mistrust in science and scientific expertise but are also hypothesized to drive migrant selectivity.  The project utilizes multi-sited experimental surveys to enable comparisons of host and origin countries, and native-borns in host society (to isolate the confounding effects of migrant selectivity).