When looking for global managers, U.S. companies aren’t tapping the female talent pool, according to a two-year study from the New York-based non-profit group Catalyst.
While women account for about half of the ranks of middle management (where corporate expatriates are typically drawn), they make up only 13 percent of expatriates in U.S. corporations, the study concluded.
Catalyst interviewed and surveyed more than 1,000 women and men expatriates (global managers who have been moved by their employer to another country), expatriates’ spouses, frequent fliers (managers who have global positions but are based in their home country) and human resources executives.
The study found that misconceptions about women’s abilities to handle international assignments and their willingness to accept these assignments are the biggest barriers to women getting selected for global positions.
Outdated ideas–for example, that customers outside the U.S. won’t do business with women–make managers wary about choosing women for global roles, and may make women themselves more hesitant to accept such assignments. Yet, 76 percent of women expatriates surveyed said being a woman had a positive or neutral impact on their effectiveness overseas.
“Being American is the single biggest factor in terms of how you are viewed by other nationalities. Being a woman is secondary,” said executive Patricia Bellinger at a recent panel discussion on the report.
Bellinger is vice president of global diversity and inclusion at BP Amoco in London.
Women also may face false assumptions about their willingness to relocate. Survey respondents believe that women are not as “internationally mobile” as men, yet 80 percent of women expatriates have never turned down a relocation, compared with 71 percent of men.
When asked whether they would be willing to relocate in the future, 86 percent of women frequent fliers said “yes,” compared with 66 percent of their male counterparts.
Another powerful assumption is that women on a global schedule have a harder time balancing work and home. However, nearly half of both men and women in the study said they find work/life balance difficult.
“The bottom line is that these stereotypes . . . make it less likely that decision makers are going to think of women managers when they build executive global teams,” said Catalyst president Sheila Wellington. “This is destructive because, as it turns out, women want these assignments, they do well abroad and they told Catalyst they would seize the opportunity again.”
In fact, the global managers surveyed overwhelmingly reported satisfaction with their international experience. Ninety percent of women expatriates, 91 percent of women frequent fliers and 86 percent of men married to expatriates said they would accept their current assignment again.
And apparently there is no shortage of assignments. The majority of human resources executives surveyed said they are experiencing a shortage of global managers. Almost half of all of these executives said developing global talent is now a high priority at their organizations and 80 percent agree it will be a high priority within the next five years.
Given that getting selected is the biggest hurdle, what can women do to better their odds?
“I think it takes two to do the global tango,” said Laurel Delaney, founder of Chicago-based Global TradeSource Ltd., a marketing, consulting and Web content provider.
“I think women need to speak up and let their employers know they have an interest in a particular global assignment. I think employers need to start listening and acting upon what they hear.”
And if a woman is turned down for a global assignment for which she is qualified? Delaney says keep talking. Start with a supervisor and if he or she doesn’t listen, work your way up the chain of command.
Recommendations for corporate change from Catalyst strike a similar note:
– Work to eradicate myths and stereotypes.
– Highlight success stories of women global managers.
– Don’t assume women will say no to international work. If the timing for a particular assignment isn’t right, ask again later.
– Once abroad, women often find themselves more isolated than their male counterparts, without the networks and mentors typically available to men. Women global managers want more formal support from their companies to feel connected.
As a result of the study, Catalyst has prepared a guidebook, “Passport to Opportunity: U.S. Women in Global Business.” To obtain the book, visit the group’s Web site at www.catalystwomen.org or call 212-514-7600.
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e-mail: jfitzgerald@tribune.com
