From ‘elites’ to ‘everyone’: re-framing international mobility scholarship to be all-encompassing

Abstract

This article argues that the view of international mobility in the management and organization literature has been too restrictive in focusing only on high status workers. This view needs to be widened to an all-encompassing perspective that is not limited or restricted in terms of the number, types or status of people engaged in working internationally. In particular, it argues that there are millions of low status international workers that, with some few exceptions, we have largely ignored. Not only does it mean that scholars are failing to explore the complete picture, it adds to the research-practice gap between those scholars and the practitioners who have to manage workers of all status levels. The article points out the areas where our knowledge is lacking and suggests a 'road-map' for future research to overcome these critical gaps.