Previous migration discourse views educational migration through narrowly defined push-pull forces, which ignores overseas graduate education as a path for maneuvering through restrictive gendered and cultural experiences. The purpose of this exploratory research is to expand migration research and view women's migration decisions as employing active, personal agency. The women's narratives express the underlying influences of family, class, and environment combined with a personal rejection of societal biases and discrimination (gender, age, and political) for a pursuit of freedom via higher education. Based on in-depth interviews and a feminist framework, this study presents and compares the migration influences for thirteen Chinese and Indian women. These women migrated to the United States for graduate education and later transitioned into faculty positions in science and engineering. This research has implications for expanding migration theory and scholarship.