Examining Sri Lankan professional women’s perceptions of their opportunities to undertake international careers: Implications for diversity among cross-cultural managers

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Author(s)
Hutchings, Kate
Samaratunge, Ramanie
Lu, Ying
Gamage, Aruna Shantha
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2016
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Extant research has examined women’s under-representation (relative to men) in international careers in respect to prejudice towards women in host countries, organizational resistance to selecting women, women’s own disinterest in taking international work and host country societal expectations of women. Although research has suggested the benefits for global organizations of having management diversity, the literature has given limited consideration to barriers and opportunities for international careers for women from developing countries. This study addresses this gap in examining the perceptions of 243 professional women ...
View more >Extant research has examined women’s under-representation (relative to men) in international careers in respect to prejudice towards women in host countries, organizational resistance to selecting women, women’s own disinterest in taking international work and host country societal expectations of women. Although research has suggested the benefits for global organizations of having management diversity, the literature has given limited consideration to barriers and opportunities for international careers for women from developing countries. This study addresses this gap in examining the perceptions of 243 professional women in Sri Lanka about factors they perceive affect opportunities for international careers. The findings suggest the women perceive that positive female role models and family/husband support may facilitate opportunities, whereas prejudice in host countries, organizational gender discrimination and home country societal values emphasizing a primary responsibility of women as wives, mothers and daughters may hinder opportunities. The research has business implications in that, given a global ageing population and increasing numbers of nontraditional families, organizations seeking to achieve gender and ethnic diversity among their international cross-cultural managers need to be cognizant of supporting employees with extended family responsibilities.
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View more >Extant research has examined women’s under-representation (relative to men) in international careers in respect to prejudice towards women in host countries, organizational resistance to selecting women, women’s own disinterest in taking international work and host country societal expectations of women. Although research has suggested the benefits for global organizations of having management diversity, the literature has given limited consideration to barriers and opportunities for international careers for women from developing countries. This study addresses this gap in examining the perceptions of 243 professional women in Sri Lanka about factors they perceive affect opportunities for international careers. The findings suggest the women perceive that positive female role models and family/husband support may facilitate opportunities, whereas prejudice in host countries, organizational gender discrimination and home country societal values emphasizing a primary responsibility of women as wives, mothers and daughters may hinder opportunities. The research has business implications in that, given a global ageing population and increasing numbers of nontraditional families, organizations seeking to achieve gender and ethnic diversity among their international cross-cultural managers need to be cognizant of supporting employees with extended family responsibilities.
View less >
Journal Title
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management
Volume
16
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© Kate Hutchings et al, Examining Sri Lankan professional women’s perceptions of their opportunities to undertake international careers: Implications for diversity among cross-cultural managers, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, Vol. 16(1) 77–98, 2016. Copyright 2016 The Authors. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.
Subject
Human resources management
Careers
Cultural values
International management
Sri Lanka
Societal values
Women