International Career Research Articles

Emerging issues and challenges in global staffing: a North American perspective

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) recognize that human resources play an important role in gaining a competitive advantage in today's highly competitive global business environment. While all aspects of managing human resources are important, staffing, continues to be an essential IHRM activity that helps MNEs in their need for coordination and control across widely dispersed units. As such, researchers and practitioners alike are interested in addressing the key issues and challenges in staffing the several types of employees that comprise the global or multinational workforce. We focus on three issues that have emerged in recent years regarding how MNEs staff their multinational workforce including: 1) managing different types of employee groups; 2) selection and management of employees posted to international assignments; and, 3) receptivity to international careers among early career individuals. We review these and then describe an empirical study conducted on the third issue.

Hanna Reitsch (1912-1979): The Global Career of a Nazi Celebrity

Drawing on the German, Indian and Ghanaian press, personal correspondence, published memoirs and diplomatic records, this article examines the career of gliding pilot Hanna Reitsch as a case study in transnational history. In the Third Reich, while working as a test pilot on military projects, Reitsch emerged as the most prominent female aviator. After 1945, Reitsch failed to distance herself from her earlier support of the Nazi regime, but this did not prevent her from re-launching an international career after the downfall of National Socialism. Funded by the West German diplomatic service, she served as a prominent aviation advisor to the left-wing governments of postcolonial India and Ghana between 1959 and 1966. She found it unproblematic to work for Marxist governments in the postcolonial world, which, in turn, courted her for her technical expertise irrespective of her reactionary political outlook. Her career reveals how experts with morally questionable records came to play crucial roles in the global diffusion of scientific and technological knowledge, upon which prominent notions of modernity remained predicated all over the globe. Remarkable for its longevity and global reach, Reitsch's professional life brings into view domestic and transnational aspects of German twentieth-century history rarely treated in the same frame.

Designing IB Curricula for Future Global Careerists: A Boundaryless Career Perspective

New career realities appear to be reshaping the necessary tools, skills and attitudes individuals must possess in order to establish a successful career in the international business arena. In particular, the boundaryless career perspective provides an interesting point of departure from which to analyze the kinds of competences future global careerists will need to become masters their own careers. Accordingly, this article presents the main arguments behind boundaryless career theory and discusses them in light of the extant literature on international careers. Based on this discussion the paper goes on to spell out the implications of the boundaryless career for IB curricula design, suggesting ways in which they can help IB students—the future global careerists—accumulate valuable career capital prior to embarking on their international career paths. The authors are grateful for the financial support provided by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES).

Dr John Rankin; His Life, Legacy and the 50th Anniversary of the Rankin Stroke Scale.

Dr John Rankin (1923-1981) is one of the many distinguished alumni of the former University Department of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Stobhill Hospital Glasgow. While his varied international career encompassed pulmonary physiology, occupational medicine and public health, he remains best remembered in the United Kingdom for his early stroke publications. In a series of articles published 50 years ago in the Scottish Medical Journal he described early rehabilitative stroke medicine using a novel grading system. Half a century on Rankin's eponymous stroke scale has become the endpoint of choice in acute stroke trials. This paper describes Rankin's remarkable career and the legacy of his work, with a particular focus on his stroke research and grading system.

Crossroads and Contexts: Interviews on Archaeology in Gaza

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsFareed ArmalyFareed Armaly, an artist and curator whose international career in the arts includes large-scale collaborative works on the theme of Palestine, is the former director of Küünstlerhaus Stuttgart. Invited by the Geneva museum to be the participating artist in its Gaza archaeological exhibition, he created a multifaceted installation titled ““Shar(e)d Domains,”” which uses as its starting point a key artifact on display in the exhibition itself: an ancient Gaza amphora discovered as shards during excavations under the Geneva Cathedral. The centerpiece of his installation is a sculptural representation of the seams resulting from reassembling the shards. Titled ““New Amphora,”” it is simultaneously a faithful replication of the artifact and a strikingly modern and original form. Prominently displayed in the exhibition along with a text by the artist, the ““new amphora”” embodies the idea of historical narrative as a reassembled but incomplete collection of fragments. Armaly currently lives in Berlin.

International Business Education At Best B-Schools

This paper investigates the preparation undergraduate students readying for participation in the global economy and interested in international business careers can receive at U.S. business schools. Existing literature point to the importance of internationalizing business education, but have been relatively silent in recent years regarding its status. Accordingly, this study seeks to contribute to business education and management practice by examining the attributes of international business programs currently offered by “best” business schools. Gap analysis and benchmarking tools are identified and summarized within the context of existing literature. Analysis and recommendation are provided to assist educators developing programs that successfully train graduates for the challenges and opportunities of today’s international workplace.

Financing Bologna, the Internationally Mobile Students in European Higher Education

Despite the importance of the Bologna process for the mobility of students, and the further mobility of graduates, as well as for peace, growth and welfare in that area, nothing has been decided so far for the financing of internationally mobile students, so that the burden of that financing, usually public, is supported by the host country. Moreover in- and outflows of students show imbalances and such imbalances are expected to increase with mobility. Therefore, we first suggest and discuss an alternative system transferring the responsibility for financing higher education to the country of origin of the students (except for those from developing countries). Origin country finances students from its territory through a two-part portable voucher: one part is dedicated to the financing of the true cost of studies, the other part intends to support student's life and might be designed in such a way that some social goals are reached. Those vouchers can be used anywhere in a defined international area provided it is in the designed field of studies and in a school whose quality has been recognized by the issuing country. Some actual systems at work in the world, which prefigure aspects of the proposal, are presented in appendix. Second, we show that, when coupled with a compensation of the origin country in case of international career of the graduate, the system proposed in this paper might be equivalent to a centralized efficient design.

The Systems Theory Framework of Career Development: Expanding its Research Influence

Since its first publication more than 15 years ago, the Systems Theory Framework (STF) has become an established metatheoretical framework in the international career development literature. Ten years into its history, the first review of its development was published. The present article overviews the expansion of the STF literature since that initial review, particularly in relation to the emerging body of research since 2002. The overview demonstrates the recursive relationship that exists between theory, practice and research. The article concludes with a discussion of the future expansion of STF research and suggestions for the directions that STF research can take.

International Careers Report: Focus on Germany

As nations compete for scientific recognition, Germany is boosting its fight. Over the past few years, the Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)-Germany's ministry of education and research-has upped the science budget and encouraged initiatives that require universities and scientists to be more innovative. The intention is to promote competition to improve the nation's science reputation.

Utopia for music performance graduates. Is it achievable, and how should it be defined?

For the majority of undergraduate classical music performance students, ‘musotopia’ is a place where performance ambitions are realised with an international performance career. However, given that so few musicians achieve this ambition, should this ideal be redefined? This paper investigates instrumental musicians' careers by exploring the realities of professional practice. A detailed study which incorporated interviews, focus groups and a lengthy survey, revealed the multiplicity of roles in which most musicians engage in order to sustain their careers. The findings call into question the concept of a musician as a performer, positing that a musician is rather someone who practises within the profession of music in one or more specialist fields. The diversity of roles pursued by practising musicians is not reflected in the majority of conservatorium curricula, thus the enormous potential for the transfer of music graduate skills into the broad cultural industries setting remains largely unrealised. Acceptance of, and preparation for, a more holistic career will enable many more graduates to find their own musotopia.

Exploring the Career Capital Impact of International Assignments within Distinct Organizational Contexts

The existing expatriation literature concentrates on what individuals need to perform in an international assignment (IA) but neglects what they gain from their foreign work experience. Using a dual‐dependency perspective this study presents results from 26 in‐depth interviews with international secondees within two UK‐based organizational contexts. The paper explores the perceived impact of an IA on the career capital of individuals, showing that the outcomes of IAs can be equivocal for expatriates. Each firm concentrated their human resource mechanisms on developing different types of career capital and this focused individual behaviour on diverse career capital activities. In one of the organizations there was an internal misalignment between organizational and individual assignee focus. Based on the research a number of propositions were developed. This study provided an exploratory insight into points of departure rather than complementarity in individuals' international careers in organizations, which has been at the core of much recent research and writing. A more complex, contextualized picture of the effects of IAs on the careers of individuals emerged.

International Careers Report: Science in the UK and Ireland

The UK and Ireland are both reaching for the benefits of a knowledge economy. The UK leads Europe's biotechnology scene, and Ireland's rapid economic trajectory through the 1990s has radically altered the research landscape thanks to large injections of cash. International companies' search for

The international protean career: four women's narratives

PurposeUsing narratives from four women following international careers in France, this paper seeks to offer an insight into the depth and complexity of career issues for women working in a foreign country.Design/methodology/approachThis is a qualitative hermeneutic inductive research undertaking on international protean careers, using in‐depth interview data together with contextual information regarding the specificity of the location in question.FindingsThe concept of the protean career is highlighted in the findings. This concept is described as “having an ability to reform oneself” also referred to as “morphing”. The findings in this study demonstrate how the women in the sample had the proven capability of morphing their professional role over time due to circumstance.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are limited as they cannot be generalised to a wider population due to the small sample size. However, the aim was not to generalise, but to share an in‐depth collection of real‐life stories from women.Practical implicationsCareers are complex, even more so on an international level. Individual choices regarding career pathways require more individualised career management approaches within organisations.Originality/valueThis research adds to the limited extant European research on women and international careers from a qualitative perspective.

The darker side of an international academic career

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the “darker side” of what it means to engage in an international academic career. Extending beyond well‐documented themes relating to the difficulties of cross‐cultural adjustment and unfulfilled expectations/opportunities for promotion, this paper seeks to introduce “transience and risk” as two important dimensions of this very specific career choice. The paper draws especially on the contemporary “new” careers literature, including conceptions of career exploration as a framework to understand the research findings.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs a qualitative methodology, drawing on semi‐structured interviews conductedin situwith 30 expatriate academics in four different countries.FindingsTransience and risk were identified as two important dimensions of the “darker side” of pursuing an international academic career. However, these two dimensions also had further positive aspects, thus signalling the complex and often contradictory nature of this specific career form.Research limitations/implicationsIntroduces a more cautionary note to the contemporary literature on international careers and career exploration more generally.Practical implicationsCareers that evolve across international boundaries require support that extends beyond cross‐cultural training.Originality/valueThe paper contends that in as much as an international academic career offers a broad range of opportunities for fulfilment it also presents significant challenges that should be acknowledged.

Studying careers across cultures

PurposeThis paper aims to study careers across cultures, distinguishing among international career, cross‐cultural and globalization perspectives.Design/methodology/approachThe conceptual development is based on a review of four empirical papers in this special issue with a focus on “Careers in cross‐cultural perspective” and other recent research in this area.FindingsWork on international careers has traditionally looked at careers that cross national boundaries, such as those involving expatriate career assignments or self‐initiated international careers. Research into cross‐cultural careers reflects the primary work of this special issue's articles, primarily by looking at differences between two or more cultures. Career research into globalization is more recent and more tentative. It covers how careers interact with the economic, political, social and environmental changes commonly associated with the term globalization.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed framework is a reflection of current theoretical and empirical debates.Originality/valueThe framework offers new guidance for both interpreting existing and developing new research.

Rethinking the Socialist Construction and International Career of the Concept "Bourgeois Feminism"

ON BASTILLE DAY 1889, German socialist Clara Zetkin announced to delegates from twenty countries assembled in Paris on centennial of French Revolution that the emancipation of women, together with that of all humanity, will take place only with emancipation of labor from capital. Zetkin assured these founders of Second International that they need fear losing proletarian women to others who were claiming to advance their interests, especially women's rights groups who held their own international congresses in French capital that summer. Despite her own comfortable origins as daughter of a schoolteacher and a doctor's widow who had herself co-founded a women's rights organization, Zetkin denounced nonsocialist women's movement as a vain effort built upon sand ... [with] no basis in reality. While challenging her overwhelmingly male audience to recognize women's need for paid work to ensure their economic independence, she emphasized in this speech that bourgeois women offered no solution to woman question. Speaking at a women's rights congress in Berlin in 1896, she startled participants by declaring herself their adversary [Gegnerin].' Zetkin's message would reverberate far and wide and last into twenty-first century, bolstered in its long life by New Left and feminist activists and scholars, including historians of 1970s generation. In 2004, anthropologist Kristen Ghodsee, assessing condition of women in postsocialist Eastern Europe, asserted that not much has changed since 1907, and quoted Zetkin's speech at First International Congress of Socialist Women, held that year in Stuttgart: There cannot be a unified struggle for entire [female] sex ... No, it must be a class struggle of all exploited without differences of sex against all exploiters no matter what

International career articles: A content analysis of four journals across 34 years

This study included a review and content analysis of international career articles published in four major U.S. vocational/career journals over a 34-year time period. Three hundred and twenty-six articles were identified, constituting 2.4% of the total number of articles published in these journals during this time. The results showed an increasing number of international career articles being published over time and that most of them are empirically based, with adult professionals as the most common sample type. The two most common content areas identified were Career Issues Related to a Specific Culture, Country, or Population and Academic and Vocational Attitudes. Further, a substantial amount of these publications originated from institutions in Israel. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

International Career Opportunities

International Career Opportunities

Kultur og konkurrence: Om mangfoldighed og innovation i sociologisk perspektiv

Toke Bjerregaard and Jakob Lauring: Cultural Diversity and Innovation: how do these relate to each other? Innovation and exploitation of cultural diversity have become key concepts in the political, scientific and business oriented discussions concerning Denmark’s international competitiveness. It is generally assumed that innovation in Denmark is not only driven by research, but also by knowledge obtained from partners, employees and users. In international firms these actors are characterised by cultural differences. Much research on diversity management and regional development suggests that cultural diversity has a positive impact on the capability to innovate. This article analyses the connection between cultural diversity and innovation. The article is based on a study of 14 Danish firms with an international and culturally diverse staff. The article describes the ways in which international employees’ perceptions of the possibilities in cultural diversity are shaped by their professional strategies and perception of international career opportunities.

International Careers Report: Australia - Punching above Its Weight

International Careers Report: Australia - Punching above Its Weight