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Research on expatriate employees has to date focused mainly on organizational expatriates, so-called because they have been assigned by a parent company to a host country. Relatively little research has been conducted on self-initiated expatriate (SIE) employees. Hence, not enough is known about this type of expatriate. This paper examines the inherent demographics of SIEs. Data were collected from 428 expatriate academics from 60 countries, employed in 35 universities in five northern European countries. Results provided support for half of the propositions predicting that SIEs' reasons to expatriate differ according to age and gender. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Purpose -This paper aims to identify communicative practices emerging from the management decision to implement English as a corporate language, assessing their implications for social interaction and relationships within the multilingual workplace. Design/methodology/approach -An exploratory study based on qualitative research interviews was used. Findings -The analysis highlights the discrepancy between a general openness to the use of English as a corporate language in Danish organisations and language users' communicative practice. This leads to the identification of language clustering and thin communication as characteristic behaviours within the multilingual workplace.Research limitations/implications -The interviews were performed in Danish organisations alone. New research is required in order to apply the findings to other linguistic or national settings. Practical implications -The research identifies two barriers to employee interaction within the multilingual workplace. This is relevant in relation to language planning as well as diversity management.Originality/value -The paper is original in its application of a sociolinguistic perspective to employees' linguistic practice. This points to the importance of language as a social resource and the possible limitations of corporate language policies.

Purpose -Through a large-scale quantitative study, this paper aims to test and extend the qualitative findings of Richardson and McKenna and of Osland on reasons to expatriate and relate them to work outcomes. Design/methodology/approach -Examining how reasons to expatriate may affect work outcomes, quantitative data was collected from self-initiated expatriate academics from 60 countries employed in 35 universities in five northern European countries. Findings -Results mostly indicated support for the proposed hypotheses. The most striking finding was the apparently uniformly destructive influence of behaviour associated with escape from one's previous life as a reason to expatriate on all of the studied work outcomes.Research limitations/implications -The self-developed scales measuring reasons for self-initiated expatriates to expatriate may have been inadequate to capture all relevant aspects of their behavioural intentions and the data from the retrospective type of questioning regarding the original reasons to expatriate may have been biased by memory effects. Practical implications -Any organization recruiting self-initiated expatriates may want to inquire about the reasons for them to expatriate. Although there may be a plethora of other requirements on job applicants, the findings of this study may be used as contributing to additional hiring criteria. Originality/value -Most of the fast growing literature on business expatriates has focused on organizational expatriates who have been assigned by their parent companies to the foreign location. However, there is much less research on self-initiated expatriates, who themselves have decided to expatriate to work abroad.