career interrupted? the case of the self-directed expatriate

Career interrupted? The case of the self-directed expatriate

Julia Richardson a,*, Mary Mallon b,1

a Atkinson Faculty, School of Administrative Studies, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Canadab Department of Human Resource Management, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Abstract

This paper examines the role of individual agency and the perceived value of international experience for self-directed

expatriation as an increasingly common career choice. Drawing on a study of British expatriate academics, it reports that themes

relating to both agency and structure come into play. Although individual desire for adventure, life change and family concerns

were key incentives to expatriate, participants believed that their subsequent international experience would provide a distinct

advantage in the academic marketplace. The internationalization of higher education was a key theme in these perceptions. The

paper also presents practical recommendations regarding expatriate academics and other self-directed expatriates.

# 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Self-directed expatriation; Career; International mobility; Higher education; Academia; Agency; Structure

www.socscinet.com/bam/jwb

Journal of World Business 40 (2005) 409–420

1. Introduction

I looked at a job in Macau, then I thought would that

have helped my career? It would just sink it; it is too

obscure for an academic . . .. It [Fiji] is a lovely

country to live in but I was worried that careerwise

it’s like they are going to think, three years, this

guy’s been on holiday. (Boris, New Zealand)

Expatriates who are sent overseas by their employer

are the main focus of the expatriate management

literature. Moreover, with only a few exceptions (e.g.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 416 736 2100x33821;

fax: +1 416 736 5963.

E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J. Richardson),

[email protected] (M. Mallon).1 Tel.: +64 6 350 5799; fax: +64 6 350 5796.

1090-9516/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2005.08.008

Inkson, Arthur, Pringle, & Barry, 1997; Riusala &

Suutari, 2000) organizational matters are a dominant

concern (Peltonen, 1998; Welch, 2003). While this

standpoint increases awareness of specific human

resource practices associated with managing more

‘traditional’ expatriates, it neglects individual

dynamics and omits people who expatriate indepen-

dently—i.e. self-directed expatriates. This paper

addresses that gap by examining the experiences of a

group of British expatriate academics in New Zealand,

Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. It

explores what prompted their decision to expatriate and

the extent to which their subsequent experience is seen

to contribute to career development. Self-directed

expatriation is a common feature of many academic

careers, but it is also an increasingly common

dimension of many other careers and organizational

.

J. Richardson, M. Mallon / Journal of World Business 40 (2005) 409–420410

contexts. To that extent, the paper offers a valuable

insight into what is now an important dimension of

international careers and the contexts within which they

evolve.

2. Current thinking on international

experience and career mobility

The organizational benefits of developing and

maintaining a cadre of internationally mobile expatri-

ate managers have been widely acknowledged (e.g.

Aycan, 2001; Suutari, 2003). Where individual careers

are concerned, corporate rhetoric suggests that

international experience is essential for promotion

to senior management. Yet, empirical evidence

suggests that it is inconsistently rewarded where

repatriated managers frequently complain about lack

of recognition and/or reward (Selmer, 1999). This

contradiction is especially problematic given the

findings of one study (Tung, 1997) which reported

that career and financial incentives were the top two

motives for corporate executives seeking and/or

accepting an overseas assignment.

Calls for the internationalization of higher educa-

tion have led to an increasing number of universities

developing strategic international alliances through

cross-border collaboration in both teaching and

research. As a result, international activity is a regular

occurrence in both academic careers (Baruch & Hall,

2004) and campus life more generally. In this context,

it seems intuitively correct to assume that international

experience would be an advantage for career mobility

because faculty with such experience may be better

equipped to manage an international student body and

research agenda (Bird, Osland, Mendenhall, &

Schneider, 1999; Napier, Vu, Ngo, Nguyen, & Vu,

1997). Yet, reflecting the same contradictions that

characterize the corporate arena, the link between

international experience and career mobility in

academia is also unclear. Studies in Canada and the

US, for example, have suggested that while demands

for the internationalization of higher education

continue unabated, international activities receive

only minimal recognition and reward (Knight, 1996;

Mestenhauser, 1996). This paper will address that

contradiction by asking the following research

questions:

� W
hy do academics choose to expatriate?
� W
hat role do they think expatriation plays in their
career development?

The contemporary careers literature offers a useful

platform to understand careers evolving across inter-

national boundaries (Inkson et al., 1997). Focusing on

individual dynamics, it allows exploration of the extent

to which self-directed expatriates, like academics, may

‘sculpt’ (Bell & Staw, 1989) ‘‘their own careers rather

than allowing themselves to become corporate sculp-

tures’’ (Inkson et al., 1997, p. 355). It also allows

exploration of how international experience contributes

to their respective career development and facilitates

more robust theoretical development in the field of

IHRM (Welch, 2003). Thus, we turn now to review

specific debates in that literature.

3. Contemporary debates in career theory

Until recently, career theory was dominated by

organizational perspectives, where career involved

traversing an organizational or occupational hierarchy.

The contemporary literature on academic careers

reflects such views, describing strategies for upward

mobility and the relative positioning of different kinds

of faculty (e.g. Forster, 2001; Mysk, 2001). Indeed, in

most universities, advancement from probation to full

professor corresponds to relatively fixed procedures and

criteria for tenure and promotion decisions (Donaldson

& Emes, 2000; Tierney & Bensimon, 1996). The advent

of ‘new economies’ demanding more flexibility,

dynamism and individual responsibility has also given

rise to new conceptions of career as boundaryless,

portfolio or protean (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996; Hall,

1996). Weick, for example, describes new careers as

‘‘more decoupled from specific organizations, more

proactive and enactive . . . more portable, more

discontinuous, less predictable, and more reliant on

improvisation’’ (Weick, 1996, p. 41). He also argues

that they would have ‘‘proxies for advancement,

development and upward movement’’ (p. 41) such as

an increase in competence rather than a change in job

title. Academia is cited as an example of a ‘‘boundary-

less career’’ (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996, p. 6), with

central concepts of career self-management, changing

psychological contracts with organizations, careers as

J. Richardson, M. Mallon / Journal of World Business 40 (2005) 409–420 411

41

–4

5:

6F,

2M

46

–50

:2

F5

1–

55

:1

F,

2M

F,

6M 8

UA

E;

5F,

3M

6(7

–8

yea

rs);

3F,

3M

3(9

+y

ears

);2

F,

1M

4(7

–8

yea

rs);

1F

;3

M1

(9–

10

yea

rs);

1M

vehicles for lifelong learning, balance and adventure. It

is then a useful exemplar of a ‘new’ career form. Yet, as

noted, it is also played out within the constraints of

existing professional, organizational and social struc-

tures. To that extent academic careers reflect aspects of

both traditional and ‘new’ conceptions of career.

While arguments purporting the move towards

‘boundarylessness’ may be intuitively appealing,

Collin (1998) argues that career ‘‘is not individual

but contextual and relational’’ (p. 42). Dany, Mallon,

and Arthur (2003) further point out that if the

dominant tendency in the past was to treat careers

as properties of organizations, perhaps we are in

danger now of seeing careers as properties of

individuals. This paper will contribute to these debates

by first exploring the extent to which self-directed

expatriation reflects organizational and/or boundary-

less dimensions of career. It will then explore whether

the same dimensions emerge in subsequent accounts

of the role expatriation plays in career development.

Tab

le1

Dem

og

rap

hic

s

Ag

e

26

–30

:1

F3

1–

35

:5

F,

5M

36

–4

0:

1F,

5M

Mar

ital

stat

us

14

mar

ried

;5

F,

9M

16

single

;11

F,

5M

8m

arri

ed+

chil

dre

n;

2

Ho

stco

un

try

7T

urk

ey;

4F,

3M

6S

ing

apo

re;

2F,

4M

9N

ewZ

eala

nd

;5

F,

4M

Pre

vio

us

expat

riat

e

exp

erie

nce

11

(0–

2y

ears

);

4F,

7M

5(3

–4

yea

rs);

4F,

1M

5(5

–6

yea

rs);

3F,

2M

Yea

rsin

ho

stco

un

try

12

(1–

2y

ears

);

8F,

4M

9(3

–4

yea

rs);

3F,

3M

4(5

–6

yea

rs);

4F,

3M

F:

fem

ale;

M:

mal

e.

4. Method

4.1. Constructing the sample

Researchers in cross-cultural management have

suggested that the challenges of conducting research

internationally can be overcome by drawing on

personal contacts (Hutchings, 2003; Von Glinow,

Drost, & Teagarden, 2002). Personal contacts were

indeed very useful for providing access to participants

in all four countries: New Zealand, Singapore, Turkey

and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, choice of

these particular countries was informed by a review of

the expatriate management literature that prompted

the researchers to take into account cultural distance

and English as the medium for teaching.

Through a point of contact in each of the four

countries, an interview was arranged with faculty who

accepted an invitation to take part in the study and who

identified themselves as British expatriates. Non-

probability sampling was used that was neither

random nor claimed to be fully representative of the

total population of self-directed expatriate academics.

Diverse cases were strategically selected from the

potential sample by taking note of age, gender and

marital status as indicated in Table 1. The final sample


provided a varied population with information about the

topic under study. It comprised self-directed British

expatriate academics in universities in each of the four

countries. All participants intended to return to Britain

at some point in the future, which distinguishes them

from immigrants and emphasises their status as

expatriates. However, we acknowledge that intention

to return may change. All of the participants had

previously held faculty positions in Britain and been in

their host countries for ten years or less.

In-depth interviews elicited accounts in which

participants could describe and interpret their experi-

ences of expatriation in their own words. The first set of

questions explored the decision to expatriate, asking

which themes were more or less influential and the

extent to which they were connected with particular

dimensions of participants’ lives, e.g. professional,

family, etc. The next set of questions explored how

participants evaluated their experience of expatriation.

They focused especially on the criteria for evaluation

and which, if any, were more dominant than others.

Questions exploring the role of expatriation in

academic careers focused on whether participants

thought it would enhance career opportunities.

4.2. Data analysis

A computer assisted qualitative data analysis

system (QSR NVivo) facilitated in-depth analysis,

comparison of accounts and emerging themes and

theory building. Template analysis (King, 1998)

involved creating lists of ‘nodes’ representing the

identified themes. Some of the themes were identified

apriori from the literature review, but the majority

were identified during analysis. ‘‘Trees’’ of nodes

were then constructed that were aligned with the

respective research questions (see Appendices A and

B). These ‘trees’ present the identified themes,

pointing to those which were dominant, e.g. the

search for adventure as an incentive to expatriate, and

to respective subsidiary themes, e.g. the perceived

transience and precariousness of expatriation.

5. Results

We present data in terms of the decision to

expatriate and the perceived contribution of expatria-

tion to career development. Two points are worth

noting. First, all names have been changed in order to

maintain confidentiality and anonymity. Second,

although the boundaries between ‘before and after’

are blurred in retrospective sense-making, most

participants chose to tell their story in the manner of

a linear narrative. They also indulged in prepositional

sense-making (Baumeister & Newman, 1994). That is,

developing propositions from their stories, seeking

more abstract generalisations from their own actions

and identifying causal relationships between those

actions and interpretations (Cohen & Mallon, 2001).

5.1. The decision to expatriate

For 26 of the 30 participants, the opportunity to

expatriate arose unexpectedly through chance meet-

ings at conference and ‘coming across’ advertisements

rather than specifically looking for an overseas

position, for example:

It was out of the blue, I mean I had just given

[someone I met at a conference] my business card

. . . then months later I got this letter saying ‘we’ve

got a vacancy’. (Boris, New Zealand)

Moreover, 16 out of the 17 participants with

previous expatriate experience indicated that seren-

dipity had played a major role in their earlier

experience where opportunities had ‘somehow’ arisen

rather than being the result of a specific plan.

Once the opportunity to expatriate had arisen, there

were three dominant influences on the decision to

expatriate: adventure/travel, life change and family

(see Appendix A). The subsidiary themes centred on

career and money. This finding suggests that

expatriate academics might be different from the

expatriate managers in Tung’s study (1997) noted

above, where career and finances were the major

incentives for an overseas assignment.

5.1.1. Expatriating to experience adventure/travel

The search for adventure/travel dominated twenty

nine accounts and was the most influential of all

themes. As indicated in Appendix A, it had three

subsidiary themes: desire to see more of the world,

search for new experience and desire for an adventure/

challenge. These themes were identified from analysis

of regularly used words and phrases about ‘‘seeing the


world’’, ‘‘experiencing adventure or challenge’’ and/

or ‘‘exploring another country’’. The subsidiary theme

‘new experience’ was also closely linked to escape and

another dominant theme ‘the desire for life change’.

The following excerpts provide a flavour of the

adventure/travel theme:

I wanted to see more of the world out there. I kept

thinking did I want to spend the next twenty years

going up and down these stairs into [name of

previous institution] . . .. It was just the desire to

travel that was the main thing. (Dora, New Zealand)

My aim is to see more of the world, certainly more

than CV enhancing activity. Not just to see the

places but to see how people live and meet people.

(Sheena, Singapore)

It is particularly significant that the ‘search for

adventure’ did not appear to have any connection with

a particular demographic. Males and females, those

with and without children and older and younger

participants, were all equally likely to draw on

‘adventure’ as a dominant theme in their decision to

expatriate.

Participants were aware of and drew on a perceived

public image of expatriation as an ‘adventure’/

opportunity for travel. Conrad and Tom, drew on the

reactions of friends and family as evidence of this

image:

If I talk to my friends back in London . . .. I have

friends there, where I grew up and they have never

left their town. Then it looks really wild and

exciting in their eyes. (Conrad, New Zealand)

When other people know that I live here, they often

say to me how brave I am, I mean coming here and

leaving home. They actually say I must be

adventurous so their vision of me is flavoured by

that image. (Tom, Turkey)

Osland’s (1995) image of the hero-adventurer,

although not explicitly drawn on by any participant,

captures the sense of challenge and adventure

embedded in the accounts. ‘Hero talk’ (Osland,

1995, p.12) was also evident as they described

overcoming difficulties and ‘fighting’ to ‘survive’:

Nothing was organised, it was done on a sort of

informal basis. Somebody met me at the airport,

took me to where I was supposed to stay and just left

me there . . . it wasn’t a problem for me actually, but

I know that it was a problem for some people.

(Barry, Turkey)

While the majority of participants spoke of the

‘adventure’ of self-directed expatriation in a positive

way, two potentially negative subsidiary themes arose:

transience and precariousness (see Appendix A).

Arthur, Inkson, and Pringle (1999) suggest that ‘new’

career forms might provide ‘fresh energy’. In this study,

when it came to reflecting on their experience,

participants suggested that the transience and precar-

iousness of self-directed expatriation were in fact a

drain on energy. The more experienced participants

identified both themes as a chronic problem. Reflecting

specifically on how precarious their positions were,

participants in Turkey, UAE and Singapore were

especially concerned that if they lost their jobs they

would have to find other positions very quickly (all had

work permits connected to their current positions) or

leave the country altogether. Many also commented

how they had to plan more carefully with respect to their

financial and physical well-being. While acknowl-

edging these negative dimensions, most participants

accepted and even embraced them as integral to the

‘adventure’. They also acknowledged that they had

been fully aware that expatriation would involve some

element of precariousness before they left Britain. In

fact this awareness had also informed their image of

expatriation as an ‘adventure’ and was thus a key driver

in their decision to expatriate. Despite adopting this

relatively positive approach, it is notable that for the

majority of participants, precariousness and transience

were, nonetheless, identified specifically as negative

dimensions of their experiences.

5.1.2. Expatriating for life change

Eighteen participants drew on life change to explain

their decision to expatriate. Appendix A indicates how

this theme was also linked with opportunities for ‘new

experience’ as a subsidiary theme of the ‘adventure/

travel’ theme. In this case, change implies more than

change of cultural context as suggested by Jerry, below:

I wanted to change my life. I guess I knew that I had to

do something myself otherwise I would be stuck there

[Britain] forever and not ever have been anywhere or

done anything outside of that. (Jerry, Singapore)


The problems of transience and precariousness

notwithstanding, on this occasion linking life change

with expatriation suggests synergy with the notion of

‘‘fresh energy’’ (Arthur et al., 1999). It also portrays

expatriation as an escape from the perceived boredom

with Britain, a subsidiary theme of ‘life change’, and

an opportunity for self-discovery and re-direction:

I worked in England for two years, actually. I just

got bored. I just didn’t want my life to keep going

like that; I knew that I had to change it—sort of the

only one who could do that kind of thing. I changed

it, I came here. (Barry, Turkey)

Nine participants spread across all four countries

linked the opportunity for change with ‘escape’. Some

were seeking to escape negative working situations.

For others, like Conrad, it was the perceived negative

aspects of living in Britain:

It was almost like a first breaking away. When I look

at it now, all we wanted to [do] was seriously break

away from England. Get away from there and start

somewhere fresh. (Conrad, New Zealand)

This finding explicitly connects the decision to

expatriate with the pre-expatriation context. It also

signals the connectivity between the dominant themes

where escape was a dimension of ‘adventure’ and ‘life

change’ as indicated in Appendix A. Further, there

was no specific link with demographic characteristics

and ‘life change’ as an incentive to expatriate. Again,

males and females, those with or without children and

a partner, and participants of different ages were

equally likely to have expatriated in order to

experience some form of life change.

5.1.3. Expatriating for family reasons

We looked at things that would benefit the entire

family . . ..Thedecisionwasaboutdoingwhatwasbest

for all of us, and here we are! (Joanna, New Zealand)

One of the reasons we came out to New Zealand in

the first place was that we liked the idea of

somewhere for our kids to grow up, and then they

would be able to travel and experience different

cultures along with us. (John, New Zealand)

Age of children did not seem to matter as

participants with very young children were equally

as likely to cite them as an influence as participants

with older teenagers. Yet, 5 of the 16 participants

without children and/or a partner said that it would be

impossible for them to expatriate with a family. Four

of those with children also indicated that having

children limited their choice of countries: ‘‘I don’t

mind staying where I am at the moment but if it

weren’t for them I would probably be looking for

something else in China’’ (Steve, the United Arab

Emirates). This is an interesting if contradictory

finding, where the family, or the perception of a

family, is both an incentive and barrier to expatriation.

Extended family in Britain was also implicated in

the decision to expatriate where, for example, two

participants said that their parents’ death had left them

‘‘free’’ to expatriate. A further eight drew on extended

family as role models, as evidenced by Penny, below:

I’ve got an aged great aunt . . . and she has so many

stories to tell. She lived in Africa with my great

uncle . . . so I would like to think I was following in

her footsteps. (Penny, New Zealand)

5.1.4. Expatriating to enhance career

opportunities

Only Tina said that she had chosen to expatriate

specifically to enhance her career opportunities. Four

participants said that their decision was partly affected

by their careers. Yet, they also explicitly juxtaposed

‘career’ with the ‘desire to travel’, where the latter was

most important as evidenced by Boris:

I thought it might do my career good, which I think

it has professionally, but yes, it was personal mostly

to be honest i.e. the chance to visit another country

which I think is more personal than professional.

(Boris, New Zealand)

Although Tina is an exception, it is instructive to

explore her decision to expatriate further. She was

especially concerned with what was the ‘right’ thing to

do in order to facilitate an ‘‘onward and upward’’

(Arthur et al., 1999) movement in her career. The same

concerns influenced which country and which

institution she chose to work in:

I had always studied my contract quite carefully and

had got a reputable organization and what looked like

a very business-like contract and something that

would be a career progression for me . . .. I wanted it


[international experience] I kind of had my life, my

five year plan. (Tina, Turkey)

Her account suggested that she managed her own

career according to her interpretation of the ‘rules’ of

an academic career. In addition, according to her ‘five

year plan’ she had been successful in that she had been

promoted.

5.1.5. Expatriating for financial reasons

Six participants expatriated for financial reasons.

Two participants said finances were a dominant

incentive. Three participants said that finances only

became an issue when they had married and/or had

children as indicated by Jack:

I would not have chosen to work in the Middle East

if I hadn’t felt that I needed a well-paying job for my

family. (Jack, United Arab Emirates)

Four participants were working in the United Arab

Emirates and all four said that they had been able to

make and save a relatively large amount of money.

5.2. The role of expatriation in career mobility

Career was a dominant theme in evaluations of

expatriation where all participants described the

positive implications of having international experience

for their careers (see Appendix B for some of the related

subsidiary themes). They expected it to provide an

‘‘edge’’ in the academic labour market primarily

because of the perceived internationalization of higher

education. Given that 23 of the 30 participants expected

to return to Britain in the near future, it is not surprising

that they drew on the putative internationalization of

higher education in Britain to evaluate their experience.

One participant, who was about to return having spent

four years in New Zealand, said that his international

experience was a major reason why he had been

successful in getting his new promoted position:

I am probably going back to the UK at least five

times better off because I’ve now gone from near the

bottom of the lecturer scale to where I am now. So in

that sense, going out of the country has certainly

helped me. It’s made me go up the scales quicker.

(Boris, New Zealand)

Another participant connected earlier international

experience with a promotion in New Zealand:

One of the things, if I recall correctly about getting the

position was having lived and worked in other

cultures [which] was an advantage and of course I had

plenty of that by that time. (Joanna, New Zealand)

All seven participants who said they were uncertain

of whether they would return to Britain immediately

after their current position also drew on international

experience as a key to enhancing their overall

employability.

Although expatriation was widely understood to

support career mobility, two caveats emerged relating

to positive recognition and marketability: the country

where experience was gained and the activities that

were undertaken. It is notable that these caveats were a

particular concern for participants in the younger age

groups (40 and below) who were at the earlier stages of

their careers. By comparison, although those who

were at the later stages of their careers (particularly the

over 50 group) were aware of the caveats, they were

less concerned about the potential impact on their own

careers. Fifteen participants perceived a hierarchy of

countries and institutions from which overseas

experience could usefully be gained. Boris, quoted

at the beginning of this paper, exemplifies his own

hierarchy as does Penny:

It [New Zealand] is not the centre of the universe but

it’s a good place to get started on an academic

career. (Penny, New Zealand)

There was no single hierarchy, but common themes

emerged where regions such as North America,

Europe, some parts of the Far East and Australasia,

were regarded as useful places to go because of their

influence in the global economy and/or their research

reputation. Conversely, Eastern Europe, Africa and

some countries in the Middle and Far East were seen

as less desirable.

Twenty participants emphasized that for overseas

experience to be recognized and rewarded it must

involve identifiable competencies and knowledge as

determined by their institutional criteria for tenure and

promotion, particularly with regard to research,

teaching and service. Consequently, there was some

anxiety in juggling individually determined incentives

to expatriation, such as the search for adventure and

benefits to family versus the more institutionally

determined criteria for evaluating it. A major concern


was that their own evaluations of their experience

might not be valued by others; that they might be out

of step with institutional expectations. This concern

was particularly apparent among the younger parti-

cipants who were at the beginning of their careers.

Jerry, for example, was concerned that he might have

‘got it wrong’:

I think my experience [in Singapore] is valuable,

but the perception of some people in Britain, might

be ‘oh yeah, he has gained international experience

but you know—so what? (Jerry, Singapore)

These younger participants were especially con-

cerned about things ‘not working out’. What if they

had misinterpreted the trends towards internationali-

zation of higher education? What if future recruiters

did not recognize their international experience?

6. Discussion

Mitchell, Levin, and Krumboltz’s (1999) notion of

planned happenstance best captures the flavour of the

decision to expatriate: not active in the sense of

consciously striving to find a job overseas, but seizing

an opportunity when it came participants’ way, or even

to their notice. This finding echoes the serendipitous

and adhoc selection of expatriate managers for

overseas assignments identified by Brewster and

Harris (1999), where managers were more likely to

be sent overseas after nominating themselves (or each

other) during coffee breaks than through strategic

selection. Thus, the decision to expatriate indepen-

dently and selection of managers for overseas

assignments may both exhibit the serendipity, flex-

ibility and proactivity of ‘‘new careers’’.

Identifying adventure, life change and family as

dominant incentives to self-directed expatriation

resonates with conceptions of career as synonymous

with lifestyle and bridging the home-work divide (e.g.

Fletcher & Bailyn, 1996). Thus, the study presents

further synergy between conceptions of ‘new’ careers

and expatriate academics. The family’s influence on

the decision to accept an expatriate assignment is

widely acknowledged (Anderson, 2001; Chew & Zhu,

2002; Tharenous, 2002). This study suggests that

immediate and extended family also play a dominant

role in self-directed expatriation where the desire to

broaden family experiences was a particularly

important incentive. Thus, whereas a survey of

corporate expatriates (Windham, 1997) found that

family commitments might be a barrier to expatria-

tion, this study suggests that they might also be a

source of encouragement. This finding reframes the

family-expatriation decision where it is based on

whether the family wants to take advantage of the

opportunities that expatriation presents rather than

whether they are prepared to endure its perceived

difficulties. Although the ‘call to adventure’ (Osland,

1995) was a powerful and rewarding force, the ‘darker

side’ of expatriation was also identified primarily in

themes relating to transience and precariousness.

Viewed as a drain on emotional and physical energy,

these themes clearly challenge the optimism surround-

ing ‘new’ career forms as sources of ‘fresh energy’

(Arthur et al., 1999). Even so, most participants found

ways of managing this ‘darker side’ suggesting that

expatriates may be less ‘fragile’ than suggested by the

literature on expatriate training and adjustment.

Despite this relatively optimistic approach, however,

it is notable that both transience and precariousness

were still specifically identified as negative dimen-

sions of self-directed expatriation.

Unlike studies of expatriate managers (Tung, 1997)

career and money were not dominant incentives to

expatriation for the academics in this study. This

finding might be explained by the differences between

the salaries and benefits packages expatriate aca-

demics might expect compared to those of expatriate

managers/corporate executives. Indeed, participants in

this study said they received far less than corporate

expatriates on an overseas assignment. Moreover, with

the exception of those in the United Arab Emirates,

some commented that they were earning the same or

only a little more than when they were working in

Britain.

Regardless of how it maps out in practice, the

rhetoric of overseas experience as a criterion for

promotion in the corporate arena may explain why it is

a dominant incentive for corporate executives (Tung,

1997). In the academic arena, its perceived role in

career development may be less embedded and/or

rewarded. This may be due to the widespread

understandings of academic careers as characterized

by flexibility and individually determined proxies for

success. Indeed, as this study suggests, although


academic careers are also framed by organizationally

determined criteria for success, they do not seem to

influence the decision to expatriate.

Although individual proactivity dominated the

decision to expatriate, participants drew on organi-

zational/structural criteria to explain how their

decision to expatriate would benefit their careers.

In a few cases, expatriation had already contributed

to significant career development. Moreover, as

indicated in Appendix B, there was widespread

perception that internationally experienced faculty

could make a positive contribution to their host

institutions. While on-going employability (a key

theme in new career discourse) underpinned most

evaluations, they were embedded in explicit aware-

ness and reference to two caveats. Both caveats

reflected institutionally determined criteria for

career success: where the experience was gained

and the kind of activities undertaken. This finding

points to the influence of institutional demands and

the role of the ‘‘observer’’ in illuminating a certain

tension between self-directed expatriation and

institutional demands. It also suggests that the

relationship between international experience and

career development is complex and multi-dimen-

sional. This complexity is especially apparent in the

anxiety that the younger participants and those at the

beginning stages of their careers felt about the

impact of their expatriation. Given the disappoint-

ment and disillusion reported by some expatriate

managers returning after an overseas assignment, it

may well be that this anxiety is indeed well-

founded.

The paper contends that expatriate academics and

indeed academic careers more generally, reflect both

traditional and new conceptions of career. This both

challenges and supports the organizational focus of the

expatriate management literature and recent career

theory which accords primacy to individual inter-

pretations and career self-management (Dany et al.,

2003). In effect, it suggests that the two literatures

offer complementary understandings of this form of

self-directed expatriation.

6.1. Limitations of the study

The accounts presented here describe each

participant’s decision to expatriate and their respec-

tive evaluations of expatriation. Yet, each partici-

pant’s account is only one of many possible versions.

The study’s approach to sampling and data analysis

is also a limitation in that selection of host country

was, to some extent, based on personal contacts that

facilitated access. Finally, given that the study

focuses solely on British expatriate academics, the

findings presented here may not apply to other

nationalities.

6.2. Practical implications

The participants in this study believed that their

international experience would enhance their career

development. Yet, Mestenhauser (1996) and Knight

(1996) suggest that this may not be true. In order to

resolve this contradiction, tenure and promotion

policy documents should clearly reflect the value

attributed to international experience and the

specific criteria required for it to be considered

valuable. Given the ‘self-management’ dimension of

academic careers, such a move would support

individual career development and allow for more

transparent recruitment and promotion practices.

The same might be said of other organizational

contexts where other groups of expatriates such as

engineers and medical professionals would have a

clearer idea about the value of their international

experience. Finally, universities would also benefit

from bearing in mind the range of incentives to

expatriation described here and incorporating them

into hiring practices.

Given the paucity of research on self-directed

expatriates, there are many other avenues to explore.

Turning first to academic careers, further research

might explore the extent to which the perceptions

reported here are correct. This might be achieved by

targeting individuals involved in faculty recruitment

and tenure and promotion decisions. In order to

develop a broader understanding of self-directed

expatriation more generally, further research might

also explore the experiences of other self-directed

expatriates. It might also build on some of the

similarities and differences identified here between

expatriate academics, other types of self-directed

expatriates and those sent on an overseas assignment

by their corporate employer.

J.R

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n,

M.

Ma

llon

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rna

lo

fW

orld

Bu

siness

40

(20

05

)4

09

–4

20

41

8

Appendix A

Tree of themes emerging from research question: why do academics choose to expatriate?


Appendix B

Trees of themes emerging from research question: what role does expatriation play in career development?

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