Women on the move: the self-initiated expatriate in China

Melinda Muir, Michelle Wallace and Don McMurray

Journal of Global Mobility, 2014, vol. 2, issue 2, 234-254

Abstract: Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the under-researched phenomenon of women, who of their own volition, are choosing to live and work in another country, as self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). Design/methodology/approach - – Drawing from a career constructivist position, the qualitative framework relied on primary data gathering through semi-structured interviews with 25 western professional SIE women living and working in Beijing. Findings - – The findings suggest that the SIE women's motivations for mobility and their career types and patterns are complex and varied. As an initial and tentative step towards developing a framework of female SIEs’ careers the authors introduce a typology of four career patterns. Research limitations/implications - – As an exploratory piece of research there is limited generalisability since the findings are presented from the perspective of a particular cohort of women's narratives. Practical implications - – There is a need to recognise the potential value of SIEs to MNCs particularly in light of the well-documented concerns regarding human capital. Companies risk losing this potentially valuable employee if the career opportunities, as well as compensation packages, benefits and support on offer, do not match the plans and expectations of the individuals concerned. Originality/value - – The study provides new insights into the nature and dynamics of the different career modes and configurations of SIE women. This is an important and appropriate research agenda for several reasons. First, there remains a paucity of research on female SIEs. Second, little is known about their career-related behaviours and expectations and the relationship between mobility and career. Thus, it is hoped that a study such as this will add to the emerging body of knowledge about an under researched yet growing number of the some of the most mobile human capital in the world.

Keywords: China; Gender; Self-initiated expatriation; International mobility; Career paths (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jgmpps:v:2:y:2014:i:2:p:234-254

DOI: 10.1108/JGM-06-2013-0045

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Global Mobility is currently edited by Professor Jan Selmer

More articles in Journal of Global Mobility from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().