Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Business (Research)

Department

Adult Education

First Advisor

Dr. Margaret Linehan

Abstract

Over the past number of years there has been an increasing recognition that an important element of a successful foreign assignment includes a successful repatriation process. In recent years, empirical studies of women in international management from a European perspective have been carried out, however, the topic of female repatriation still remains a relatively unexplored area. The majority of the existing research on repatriation is taken from a male perspective. The particular focus of this study is the repatriation process from a female perspective. Twenty-seven senior international female managers representing a wide range of industry and service sectors were interviewed. The study, assesses an exclusively senior sample of female managers who have completed at least one international assignment and who have been repatriated to their home countries.

This study of senior female repatriated managers makes a theoretical contribution, not only to the analysis of gender and international human resource management, but also to wider debates within the contemporary women in management and career theory literatures. The aims of the study were to determine if there are issues which are specific to women during the repatriation process and to suggest measures which organisations could introduce in order to help their female international managers make as easy a transition as possible.

The results of the study indicates that there are issues which are specific to women during the repatriation process and which should be considered by organisations when they are formulating their repatriation policies. The implications of the study for research literatures in women in management and career theory are also explored and a future research agenda developed.

Access Level

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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