Women in international careers: at the crossroads of barriers, challenges and opportunities

Sara Falcão Casaca () and Ana Rita Nunes

No wp012016, Working Papers from SOCIUS, Research Centre in Economic and Organisational Sociology at the School of Economics and Management (ISEG) of the University of Lisbon

Abstract: This article seeks to expand the knowledge available on the motivations, constraints, opportunities and experiences of women occupying international managerial positions, either as expatriates or in autonomous professional projects. A qualitative methodology was adopted. A total of 20 in-depth interviews were conducted with women in international careers. Family-related factors are the most common barriers to women taking advantage of opportunities and experiences abroad. Inspired by an earlier article (Mathur-Helm, 2002), women’s international managerial experiences are represented here as standing at a crossroads, at the point of intersection of different, challenges and opportunities. The decision to move abroad and the mobility process are experienced as a complex and ambivalent path: a crossroads where both positive and negative paths intersect with each other and a labyrinth where pleasures derived from work, self-fulfilment, work-family conflicts and personal pain are closely intertwined in their experiences.

Keywords: women; expatriates; international careers; barriers; challenges; opportunities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-01
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