More Than a Summer Job: Work & Travel and Kazakhstani Youth Mobility Aspirations

Abstract

This research analyzes the influence of the Summer Work and Travel (SWT) in the USA on the migration aspirations of Kazakhstani youth. Relying on a qualitative design of 15 semi-structured interviews with students from Astana, it explores how this short-term labor migration program affects the participants’ long-term perceptions of opportunities in Kazakhstan and abroad. Unlike the existing literature, which is focused on labor precarity, this study illuminates the much broader aspects of students’ exposure – including cultural enrichment, travel, personal growth, and expansion of social networks. The collected data also demonstrates that, regardless of the unstable labor conditions, the participants tend to rationalize their precarious employment, considering it a temporary sacrifice for financial and non-material gains. The program also serves them as a symbolic rite of passage into adulthood, contributing to their independence, confidence, and various practical skills. The SWT’s influence on migration aspirations is not linear, as it expands the participants’ desires to study and work abroad but does not eliminate the students’ lasting attachment to their homeland. Overall, the findings illustrate that temporary labor migration not only reflects the existing social inequality but also shapes and transforms the youth mobility aspirations, leading to intricate migration trajectories.