Cross-cultural management: women expatriates

Résumé du document

This essay analyzes the evolution of female expatriates in Western multinational corporations in the recent years and confronts the issues of gender stereotyping, discrimination and family responsibility.

The small number of women on global assignments is disconcerting, given that the researches suggest female expatriates are quite successful (Adler, 1984b, 1986, 1994; Caligiuri and Tung, 1999; Napier and Taylor, 1995; Taylor and Napier, 1996).
Despite a slight evolution, why are women expatriates under represented?

This paper summarizes the key findings of researches that analyzed expatriation of Western women managers from a career theory perspective. Diverse theories draw a theoretical framework to elucidate the relationship between gender, culture and career. The meanings Western women managers attribute to their career path and expatriate experience are explored by using interviews that were available on the internet.

Extraits

[...] One key issue in the female expatriation is the increasing challenge MNCs face with dual-career couples. While a spouse is seen as a positive asset for a male candidate considered for expatriation, having a partner is frequently detrimental for a female candidate. Because male spouses are automatically assumed to have a career, companies anticipate greater difficulty in transferring a female than a male expatriate (Sully Taylor, Nancy Knox Napier and Wolfgang Mayrhofer, August 2002). So, one of the reasons for the decreasing number of female expatriates could be connected to the fact that it seems more difficult, both culturally and financially, for a man to follow his wife in her professional life. [...]

[...] Socially, it is always difficult for a man to be inactive. The majority of them do not agree to put their professional life in a limbo to follow their wives. When a woman leaves for abroad, she has to face two main challenges: adapting herself to a new professional environment and insuring the integration of the family. It is really difficult to handle. Sources of that support include a caring husband; independent and understanding children; competent nannies, live-in maids or relatives to help with child rising; understanding colleagues; family-friendly company policies and supportive host government policies. [...]

[...] However, according to 75 percent of the sample, international positions and opportunities are reserved for white males only. Thailand is a country more macho than France. Most of the management jobs are occupied by men. However, in my profession, I have never had the problem of hierarchy or felt a lack of respect. On the contrary, the hierarchical authority is often more marked here than in France. On the other hand, the French often project an image of serious, competent persons and are thus more respected than the local employees. [...]

[...] A study cites that women are not motivated to pursue such positions. It is said that they are incompetent in terms of rank, specialization, and education; that concerns exist about the physical safety of female managers who would be required to travel between and within underdeveloped countries; and that women have no general ability to cope with isolation and loneliness in a foreign country. The study also points out the issue of severe gender prejudices, especially in developing countries. (Rueyling Tzeng, 2006) Cultural and environmental issues Caligiuri and Lazarova's conceptual piece highlights the host country's role in the successful adjustment for the work of female expatriates. [...]

[...] The slowly evolving change in attitudes towards women explains the slow but undeniable rise of women expatriates. (Sully Taylor, Nancy Knox Napier and Wolfgang Mayrhofer, August 2002) Figures When Nancy Adler carried out her path-breaking work on female expatriates two decades ago (Adler 1984, 1987), there was a dearth of female expatriates to study. Today, the situation is different and lot of changes have occurred in the research landscape and in the views on female expatriates and women global leaders. [...]