Skilled migrant and self-initiated expatriate women: their managerial advancement in developed, mature economies

Phyllis Tharenou

Journal of Global Mobility, 2026, vol. 14, issue 1, 73-107

Abstract: PurposeSkilled migrant (SM) and self-initiated expatriate (SIE) women play a key role in meeting skill shortages in advanced economies and could expect to advance as much as counterparts (e.g. native-born) based on their credentials. Instead, they are often marginalized, working in lower-level positions. This review aims to explain the influences on SM and SIE women's managerial career advancement, factors potentially relevant to maximizing the proportion of women in management in the host country.Design/methodology/approachI conducted an integrated literature review, combining systematic and narrative reviewing. The systematic review yielded 64, most often qualitative empirical studies of SM (38) and SIE (26) women's managerial career advancement; the narrative review of the studies sought to identify the influences on managerial advancement, compared for the mobility types, enabling assessing a possible boundary condition.FindingsThe review revealed that skilled migration and self-initiated expatriation rarely resulted in women's managerial advancement; the women (especially SMs) advanced less than male and female counterparts. Being a woman, a migrant and/or non-white, or a mother, disadvantaged SM women's managerial advancement. Mostly gender-linked environmental barriers (e.g. discrimination) lowered SM women's managerial advancement, whereas individual-level positive facilitators (e.g. agency) enhanced SIEs'. Gender-linked theory explained SM and SIE women's managerial career advancement: three well-established theoretical lenses—intersectional identities, lack-of-fit and stereotyped gender-roles—together provided a coherent conceptual framework.Originality/valueIn an original contribution, achieved by contrasting SMs and SIEs, mobility type acted as a boundary condition on influences on SM and SIE women's managerial advancement, being more explanatory for SIEs. A tentatively proposed mediator-moderator framework explained the women's managerial career advancement, providing greater theoretical depth through simultaneously examining mechanisms (why) and context (when).

Keywords: Self-initiated expatriates; Women; Skilled migrants; Managerial advancement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jgmpps:jgm-04-2025-0043

DOI: 10.1108/JGM-04-2025-0043

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