Who Make Better Expat Workers: Men or Women?

In today's globalized business environment, companies are increasingly relying on expatriates to manage international operations. These international assignments are crucial for a firm's success as knowledge and expertise are shared cross-culturally.

As companies expand globally, I thought to dive down the research rabbit hole to understand what the research says about whether men or women make better selections for international assignements.

Recent studies have delved into this topic, exploring the representation, success rates, and predictors of expatriate success for men and women.

Historically, women have been underrepresented in expatriate assignments. Previous research also looked at this, for instance, Florkowski and Fogel (1995) found that only 11% of expatriates were female. Similar studies in the late 90s and early 2000s showed that female participation hovered around 13-14% (Tung, 1997; Tyler, 2001). Despite this underrepresentation, women have shown to be equally, if not more, successful in these roles compared to their male counterparts.

What contributes to successful international assignments?

The success of expatriates is influenced by various factors, including individual personality traits, company support, family support, and host country attitudes.

Equally in my own consultancy, I use the F.L.A.I.R framework: Finances, Logistics, Acquisition (of new Knowledge), Inner Emotions, Relationships & Role as being key contributors to succeeding as an expat; providing solutions to these areas can help expats perform with "flair."

Personality traits, in particular, play a significant role in expatriate success. Research has shown that expatriates who are more extroverted and agreeable are less likely to terminate their assignments prematurely. Extroverted individuals tend to be outgoing and gregarious, while agreeable individuals are empathetic and cooperative. These traits help expatriates form social alliances with host nationals and other expatriates, aiding in their adjustment to the new environment. Additionally, conscientiousness, which involves being reliable and careful, is positively associated with superior job performance (Caligiuri, 2000).

Despite the importance of personality traits, many organizations still rely heavily on technical competence for expatriate selection. However, there is growing criticism of this approach.

How can we better select and prepare expats for success?

A more balanced selection procedure that includes personality assessments could increase the number of women in international assignments. This is supported by research showing that in various scenarios, a higher proportion of women are selected based on personality assessments compared to men.

The study by Gurthrie et al (2003) used both predictors of expat success and risk factors of expat failure to assess whether men or women would make better expats. The results consistently showed that women made proportionality better selections; for example, in one scenario, 41.5% of women were selected versus 18.2% of men.

Despite these results, it is important to acknowledge that expat success is predicted by multiple facets. Therefore, organisations should set more focus on the processes and systems to help workplace success; rather than demographics.

A big help for organisations can be to use specialists to help the individual prepare ahead of the move, onboard successfully and begin performing much more quickly. Equally, not just solving the practical challenges of moving but the psychological challenges is important.

So, what should companies and leaders do about it?

The high failure rate of expatriate assignments underscores the need for effective selection processes. Failure is often defined as not completing the assignment or performing inadequately. Social and psychological adjustment are critical determinants of success, with adjustment to work, interacting with host nationals, and the general non-work environment being key dimensions.

Ultimately, both men and women can be successful expatriates. However, organisations need to optimise their game in selecting and preparing expats for success. Incorporating personality assessments and broader selection criteria could lead to greater representation and success for women in these roles.

As firms continue to expand globally, leveraging the strengths of both male and female expatriates will be essential for achieving international success.

What do you think...?

Please feel free to let me know what you think on the topic of expat success. Feel free to contact me with any questions: [email protected]

References

Caligiuri, P.M. (2000), "The big five personality characteristics as predictors of expatriates? Desire to terminate the assignment and supervisor-rated performance", Personnel Psychology, Vol. 53, pp. 67-88.

GUTHRIE, J.P., ASH, R.A. and STEVENS, C.D., 2003. Are women "better" than men? Personality differences and expatriate selection. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(3), pp. 229-243.

Florkowski, G.W. and Fogel, D.S. (1995), "Perceived host ethnocentrism as a determinant of expatriate adjustment and organizational commitment", paper presented at the National Academy of Management Meetings, Vancouver, Canada, 6-9 August

Tung, R.L. (1997), "Canadian expatriates in Asia-Pacific: an analysis of their attitude toward and experience in international assignments", paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, St Louis, MO, 11-13 April.