Institutional discrimination of women and workplace harassment of female expatriates

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate workplace gender harassment of female expatriates across 25 host countries and consider the role of institutional-level gender discrimination as a boundary condition. Further, the study investigates the effects of workplace gender harassment on frustration and job satisfaction and general job stress as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach The sample is comprised of 160 expatriates residing in 25 host countries. The authors test the model using partial least-squares structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that female expatriates experience more workplace gender harassment than male expatriates. This effect is particularly pronounced in host countries with strong institutional-level gender discrimination. Moreover, the authors found significant main effects of gender harassment on expatriates’ frustration and job satisfaction. Further, the authors identified a significant association between frustration and job satisfaction. No significant moderation effect of general job stress was found. Research limitations/implications The study’s data are cross-sectional. Future studies are encouraged to use longitudinal research designs. Further, future studies could center on perpetrators of harassment, different manifestations of harassment, and effective countermeasures. Practical implications The study raises awareness on the challenges of harassment of female expatriates and the role of the host country context. Further, the study shows the detrimental effects of gender harassment on female expatriates’ job satisfaction which is a central predictor of variables crucial to international assignments, for example, performance or assignment completion. Originality/value The study is among the first endeavors to include institutional-level gender discrimination as a boundary condition of workplace gender harassment of female expatriates, and therefore puts the interplay between macro- and micro-level processes into perspective.

Highway to Hell? Managing expatriates in crisis

“…With regard to discrimination, some expatriate destinations may generally be averse to the presence of foreigners thereby potentially strengthening the likelihood of crisis situations (cf. Bader, Stoermer, Bader, & Schuster, 2018). Forstenlechner (2010), for example, has shown how discrimination at the host country level may lead the expatriate to be, in their own opinion, more easily the prosecuted or targeted party, for example, in road accidents.…”

Fostering longevity attitudes in women expatriates: the role of general and targeted types of organizational support

“…Prior scholarship shows that institutional barriers and discrimination against women expatriates remain widespread (Bader, Stoermer, Bader, & Schuster, 2018), negatively impacting the selection and retention of women expatriates. First, the selection systems for expatriates are often informal and subjective (Linehan & Scullion, 2001), leading staffing decisions to be particularly susceptible to biases (Harris, 2002).…”

“…differential treatment) can impact women expatriate retention. This can take many forms, including harassment (Bader et al, 2018) and social isolation (Hutchings et al, 2012). In sum, decades of research have shown that women are likely to face more cultural constraints, corporate resistance, and stereotypes about their expatriation interest than their male peers (Adler, 1987;Altman & Shortland, 2008;Shortland, 2018b).…”

The dark side of expatriation: dysfunctional relationships, expatriate crises, predjudice and a VUCA world

“…For instance, early scholars assessed the challenges and difficulties that come along with adjusting to a new environment (Black, 1988;Black & Gregersen, 1991;Black, Mendenhall, & Oddou, 1991) with the majority of subsequent research on adjustment applying a stress perspective (Takeuchi, 2010). Other scholars have gazed into darkness by looking at the risks of expatriation in hostile environments (Bader, Reade, & Froese, 2016;Bader & Berg, 2014;Bader & Manke, 2018;Bader & Schuster, 2015;McPhail & McNulty, 2015), discrimination and hostility (Bader, Stoermer, Bader, & Schuster, 2018;Hutchings, Michailova, & Harrison, 2013), and expatriate divorce (McNulty, 2015). Yet another stream of research has explored drivers of assignments failure.…”