While women make up about 40% of the global workforce, studies on global mobility report only about 15-25% of international assignees are female. The RES Forum researched why this might be the case.
Is there interest?
First, there’s a widespread belief that women are not interested in accepting international assignments. However RES Forum’s research indicates more than 50% of women are interested in accepting assignments; they also believed their supervisors were aware of this willingness.
Corporate resistance
Secondly, the research identified possible corporate resistance in sending women abroad, with corporate structures and selection procedures not as gender neutral as they might be. While 80% of men consider the selection process in their company “gender neutral”, only 44% of women support such a statement.
Lack of flexibility
Finally, it’s telling that 71% of men were accompanied by their partner while only 26% of women were accompanied. In other words, women are more willing to support the international career of their spouse/partner than men are willing to support the international career of their spouse/partner.
About the research
This is based on recent research carried out by Prof. Dr. Benjamin Bader, an academic partner and strategic adviser to The RES Forum (an independent international research and networking community of 1,200 global mobility professionals in more than 650 organisations across 40+ countries globally) and Professor of Strategic Management and Organization at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg in Germany. The full research can be found on The RES Forum website.
Source: The RES Forum
