Around the world, women are remaking companies, society, and them-
selves. But in each country, women have achieved different things,
fought different battles - and made different sacrifices.
Opportunities for female indigenous employees to move up the managerial ladder in a given culture depend on the values and the expectations regarding the role of women in that society. In Japan, for example, the workplace has traditionally been male domain as far as managerial careers are concerned (although rapid changes are now taking place). To the older generation, a working married woman represented a loss of face to the husband because it impied that he was not able to support her. Women were usually only allowed clerical positions, under the assumption that they would leave to raise a family and perhaps later return to part-time work. Employers thus made little effort to train them for upper- level positions. As a result, very few women workers have been in supervisory or managerial posts - thus limiting the short-term upward mobility of women through the managerial ranksi'
The younger generation and increased global competitiveness have brought some changes to traditional values regarding women's roles in Japan. Over 60 percent of Japanese women are now employed, including half of Japanese mothers. But how and when these cultural changes will affect the number of Japanese women in managerial positions remains to be seen.
Where one finds limitations on managerial opportunities for women in their own country, there are obviously even more limitations on their opportunities as expatriates. Overall, more managerial opportunities are available for American women than for women in most other countries. But, even for American women, who now fill over 25 percent of the managerial positions at home, commensurate opportunities are not available to them abroad: about 6 percent of North American expatriate managers are women. The reasons for this anomaly can often be [raced to the cultural expectations of the host countries - the same cultural values [hat keep women in these countries from the managerial ranks.
An explanation for the lack of expatriates who are female or represent other minority groups does not include their lack of desire to take overseas assignments; studies indicate their strong willingness to work abroad. Nor can the situation be explained by their lack of success: for example, a major study by Adler of North American women working as expatriate managers in countries around the world showed that they are, for the most part, successful.
The most difficult job seems to be getting the assignment in the first place. One of the major reasons is that North American executives are reluctant to send minorities abroad because they assume they will be subject to the same culturally based biases as at home, or they assume a lack of understanding and acceptance, particularly in certain countries. Research on 52 female expatriate managers, for
example, shows this assumption to be highly questionable. Adler showed, first and foremost, that foreigners are seen as foreigners; further, a woman who is a foreigner (called a gaijin in Japan) is not expected to act like a local woman. In fact, Adler and Izraeli say, “Asians see female expatriates as foreigners who happen to be women, not as women who happen to be foreigners.” The other women in the study echoed this view. One woman based in Hong Kong noted, “It doesn't make any difference if you are blue, green, purple, or a frog. If you have the best product at the best price, they'll buy.
Women and minorities represent a significant resource for overseas assignments - whether as expatriates or as host-country nationals, that is underutilized by American companies. Adler studied this pheromone regarding women and recommends that businesses (1. avoid assuming that a female executive will fail because of the way she wifi be received or because of problems experienced by female spouses; (2. avoid assuming that a woman will not want to go overseas; and (3. give female managers every chance to succeed by giving them the titles, status, and recognition appropriate to the position - as well as sufficient time to be effective.
The Role of Women in International Management : Developing a Global Management Cadre article from Global Human Resource Management Catagory The Role of Women in International Management
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