ESPN Push-Pull Factors
The United States' booming tech industry attracts workers from around the world. People move here because of the job opportunities and high wages.
What is an economic pull factor?
A software engineer from India moves to Silicon Valley (in California) for a high-paying job and better career prospects.
What is transnational/international migration?
Spanning from the 16th to the 19th centuries, this type of forced migration transported approximately 12 million Africans to the Americas—primarily Brazil (about 4.9 million) and the Caribbean (around 4.5 million)—with an estimated 15-20% mortality rate during the Middle Passage, resulting in 1.8 to 2.4 million deaths, and predominantly involved males (about two-thirds), significantly fueling the growth of economies in Europe and the Americas through labor-intensive agricultural production.
What is slavery?
In India, a large number of highly educated professionals, such as engineers and IT specialists, leave for countries like the United States and Canada in search of better job prospects and living conditions, resulting in this phenomena where there is a shortage of skilled labor back home.
What is brain drain?
In Turkey where the population has rapidly increased due to migration, local farmers begin to notice that the land is producing less food than it did in previous years. This decline is causing food shortages, as the number of people now exceeds what the local resources can sustainably support. This scenario is an example of a country exceeding this geographic concept.
What is carrying capacity?
Due to war and violence in Syria, families were forced to leave and seek safety in neighboring countries like Turkey or even in Europe.
What is a political push factor?
A family in Mexico moves from a small rural village to Mexico City in search of better educational opportunities for their children.
What is rural-to-urban migration?
Due to the civil war in Israel/Palestine, many families have fled to neighboring countries in the Middle East and Europe, seeking safety. These people have become internationally recognized as these kinds of migrants.
Who are refugees?
Germany has successfully attracted skilled workers from various countries, including doctors and engineers, to help meet the demands of its growing economy, leading to this phenomena where there is a significant increase in expertise and innovation in the German workforce.
What is brain gain?
After leaving Venezuela due to economic instability and violence, a family sets out on a journey to reach Colombia. Along the way, they encounter several challenges, including dangerous areas controlled by armed groups, limited access to transportation, and lack of safe shelter. However, they also discover nearby towns that offer temporary work opportunities and community support networks that help migrants like them. In this situation, identify the intervening opportunities and obstacles that the family faces on their migration journey.
Intervening Obstacles: Dangerous areas controlled by armed groups, limited access to transportation, lack of safe shelter.
Intervening Opportunities: Temporary work opportunities in nearby towns, community support networks for migrants.
People from rural areas in India are migrating to the cities because they want access to better healthcare and education.
What are social pull factors?
John moves from Texas to California to be closer to his family, after they moved there last year. He is following the same path as his relatives.
What is chain migration?
During Hurricanes Helene and Milton, many people were forced to flee and became displaced within their own country.
What are internally displaced persons (IDPs)?
In the United States, many seasonal farm workers from Mexico come to help with the harvest. They work for several months and then return home, significantly contributing to the local and national economy as a result of this type of migration.
What is guest worker migration?
Countries in stages 2 and sometimes 3 of the demographic transition model will likely be seeing this type of migration from their country.
What is emigration or transnational/international migration?
Droughts and crop failures in East Africa are driving many farmers to abandon their homes and move to areas with more reliable rainfall.
What are environmental push factors?
A family living on a small farm in rural Kansas moves to a nearby town for better job opportunities. After saving enough money, they eventually relocate to Kansas City for access to more services, higher-paying jobs, and better schools. Usually characterized by intervening opportunities, this type of migration describes where people move in stages from smaller to larger places as opportunities can alter the migrant's plans and influence the final destination of their migration.
What is step migration?
A Rohingya Muslim is fleeing persecution for their political beliefs in their home country of Myanmar and is seeking protection in neighboring Bangladesh as they apply for this status.
What is asylum?
In cities like Los Angeles, immigrants from various Latin American countries form communities where they continue to celebrate their traditional festivals and cuisine while also adopting English and American customs. This process of cultural exchange and adaptation is an example of this effect of migration.
What is acculturation?
Advancements in communication and transportation technologies have made it easier for migrants to maintain connections with their families back home while settling in new countries. This reduction in the impact of distance on social and economic interactions is an example of this concept back in Unit 1.
What is time-space compression?
After a devastating hurricane, many people left Puerto Rico in search of better job opportunities and housing on the U.S. mainland.
What are both environmental push and socio-economic pull factors?
In the Alps, families move their livestock from the valleys in the winter to the higher mountain pastures in the summer to graze. This seasonal movement helps ensure their animals have enough food throughout the year.
What is transhumance migration?
After fleeing conflict in their home country, a family from South Sudan attempts to reach a refugee camp in Uganda. However, they encounter numerous challenges along the way, such as crossing a dangerous river, navigating through areas controlled by armed groups, and facing a lack of food and shelter. These barriers hinder their journey and complicate their migration process. The challenges they face on their journey for safety is an example of this concept that is experienced frequently by forced migrants.
What are intervening obstacles?
A Vietnamese family moves to the United States and gradually adopts American customs, such as celebrating Thanksgiving and speaking English at home, while their traditional practices become less prominent over time. This complete integration into the new culture results in this cultural effect of migration.
What is assimilation?
A technology company in Silicon Valley recruits software developers from around the world, leading to a wave of migration to the area. However, as these developers settle in the U.S., the cultural and social ties to their home countries begin to weaken. This phenomenon of how the influence of places diminishes with distance is known as this concept from Unit 1.
What is distance decay?