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Women and International Assignments

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Women and International Assignments
Women and International Assignments: The Impact of Supervisor-Subordinate Relationships
Arup Varma Linda K. Stroh Lisa B. Schmitt

During the past two decades, more and more organizations have been going global, and, as a result, more and more employees are being sent on international assignments. For the most part, though, the percentage of females being sent on these assignments is much lower than the percentage of males. Several recent studies have suggested that the supervisor-subordinate relationship might be a critical determinant of who gets selected for expatriate assignments. To explore this issue in some detail, the leader-member exchange (LMX) model is used to examine the link between supervisor-subordinate relationships and selection for international assignments. Strategies that female employees can use to improve their chances of being sent on international assignments are also suggested.

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everal recent studies have shown a significant positive relationship between an organization’s bottom line and its ability to develop global leaders (e.g., Black, Gregersen, Mendenhall, & Stroh, 1999; Stroh, Varma, & ValyDurbin, 2000; Travers & Pemberton, 2000). In that proper selection is a key determinant of whether an international assignment is a success or a failure, selecting the best candidates for international assignments is clearly an ex-

Arup Varma, Institute of Human Resources & Industrial Relations, Loyola University Chicago, 820 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL, 60611. Tel: (312) 915-6664 avarma@luc.edu .

tremely important task (Arthur & Bennett, 1995; Tung, 1998). Yet, as a close look at the selection process reveals, there are some curious anomalies in who is selected for these assignments. For example, although as of 1998 women represented 47% of the U.S. workforce (Feltes & Steinhaus, 1998; Catalyst, 2000), they comprised a mere 13% to 14% of employees on international assignments (Solomon, 1998; Tung, 1998). This imbalance in


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