INCLUSION & DIVERSITY
How can employers increase diversity and encourage a greater number of women to take up international assignments?
Having celebrated International Women’s Day in March, Marianne Curphey looks at how to nurture diversity in some of the sectors that have historically been male-dominated, such as STEM careers, technology and finance and how to encourage female staff to take up overseas posts.
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cross all industries, women comprise 25 per cent of international assignees. That figure hasn’t changed much in
recent years and there are some systemic reasons for this, suggests Dr Susan Shortland, professor emerita at Guildhall Business & Law at London Metropolitan University and a senior lecturer in HRM at the University of Westminster. Industries that employ a lot of
expatriates include oil and gas companies, and often require natural science and science graduates, she says. Given that women are already under-represented in these areas, the pool of female talent is not always there for employers to choose from. “All industries are trying to make
the selection process more transparent and that will help minority populations gain access,” she says. “There are other ways which are helpful, such as having role models, mentoring, networking and coaching, all of which help to encourage women and minorities.” It’s not always possible to be truly diverse
when selecting talent, as some territories have legal restrictions that make it difficult or unsafe for members of staff from the LGBT community to be posted there. There are some areas where there’s a higher percentage of ex-pats – for example, the not-for-profit sector – but in engineering, only 10 per cent of overseas assignments are taken up by women. “Employers nowadays have a much stronger focus on diversity of
all aspects, not just gender,” Dr Shortland says. “They are keen to get higher numbers of women participating in global mobility, but their choices are often affected by families and dual careers. There is a greater effort to recruit non-traditional expatriates including the LGBT community.” Generally speaking, women tend to take
a secondary role in terms of generating household income and so they may not necessarily take the lead in terms of going abroad. “Once children are at critical school age it tends to reduce women’s mobility,” Dr Shortland says. “Women tend to stay behind while men go abroad or on commuter assignments. It’s not always the case, of course.”
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