Female expatriates on the move? Gender diversity management in global mobility

Abstract

An increase in gender diversity activities and a greater societal awareness of inequality issues have led to an unprecedented focus on gender diversity management (GDM) in multinational companies (MNCs). Despite GDM efforts in MNCs, female expatriates continue to be under represented in global mobility and are still missing as an explicit target group in MNCs' GDM endeavors. Despite the evidence for gender-related challenges concerning expatriation, global mobility does not account for gender when it comes to policy considerations. Accordingly, based on 31 in-depth semi-structured interviews, we seek to explore why female expatriates continue to be underrepresented in international assignments. We find that the relation between a company's global mobility management and its respective GDM is, in most cases, nonexistent. We also discover that MNCs utilize a gender-blind approach that is shaped by stereotypes which favor the selection of male employees in global mobility.