Personal characteristics of female vs male business expatriates

Although there has been a rapidly increasing literature on women in international assignments, very little is known about their specific personal characteristics. To rectify this shortcoming, a large-scale mail survey to female and male business expatriates in Hong Kong made a direct comparison of their personal characteristics. Results showed that the women were younger than the men. Controlling for inter-group age differences, despite the fact that there were no gender differences in corporate tenure and expatriate experiences, the female expatriates were found to occupy lower hierarchical positions than their male counterparts. Women on foreign assignment were also less frequently married than their male colleagues. Implications for assigning organizations and future research are discussed.