International Business 13th Edition by Donald Ball,Michael Geringer,Michael Minor ,Jeanne McNett

Exercise 1

Are Women Appropriate for International Assignments?
Although women make up about 47 percent of the workforce in the United States, they represent a relatively small (albeit growing) fraction of the population of expatriates. Why this difference, especially with the pressing need for finding and developing competent global leaders? Adler examined three myths about women in international management:
Myth 1: Women do not want to be international managers.
Myth 2: Companies refuse to send women abroad.
Myth 3: Foreigners' prejudice against women renders them ineffective.
When Adler tested these myths empirically, neither the first nor the third was supported, but the second one was. Adler's research suggested that 70 percent of her sample of international companies were hesitant to select women for expatriate assignments. Why? Among the reasons expressed were that women in dual-career relationships would experience problems with international assignments, that gender-based prejudice would limit women's performance in many challenging countries or cultures, that women might feel lonely and isolated in an international assignment or be subjected to sexual harassment, or that the men making selection decisions regarding international assignments were themselves biased by traditional views and stereotypes regarding the appropriateness of assigning women to expatriate positions.
Is this hesitancy by companies regarding selecting women for international assignments justified? Research has shown that women are just as eager to go abroad as are men, sometimes more so. Additional research has shown that gender is unrelated to the performance ratings of expatriates, with the adjustment of expatriates to the host-country context, or with the intention of expatriates to leave their ICs. Recent studies have even suggested that the skills and identity typically associated with women (e.g., attentiveness to personal aspects of business and skill in building interpersonal relationships) may actually give women an edge over men for some expatriate assignments. In addition, rather than cultural attributes serving as a barrier to the effectiveness of women expats (e.g., a women-unfriendly environment in some host-country cultures), as has sometimes been argued in explaining why women could not or should not be assigned to international positions, these structural aspects may serve as an advantage for women in international roles.
Indeed, women may be able to divert attention from gender by demonstrating individualized sources of legitimacy and power, such as functional expertise and experience, and thereby enhance their effectiveness in international assignments. Similarly, although studies have reported that women assigned to countries where females have lower social status often have a more difficult time adjusting, they are nevertheless rated as being equally effective as men at their jobs. Some Japanese even refer to female expats as "the third gender" because they are accorded a different role and status than local women. A recent Australian study showed that childless single women were most likely to take expatriate roles because they did not encounter the same role conflicts and social pressures that married women or women with children might face. Women expatriates who are married are much less likely to take a partner overseas with them than is the case for male expatriates. Only 16 percent of women bring partners, versus 57 percent for male expatriates.
Should ICs select more women for expatriate assignments?