An investigation into the perceptions of female Western expatriates on the factors that contribute to expatriate adjustment in MNEs in the Saudi Arabian energy sector.

Abstract

With only 14% of expatriates being women (Mercer, 2020), underrepresentation of the female workforce in international assignments is evident. Reasons to this vary, including stereotypical views at HQ in regards to the suitability of female expatriates to be successful but also negative and discriminatory attitudes against them in the host-country subsidiary (Bader, Stoermer, Bader and Schuster, 2018; Salamin and Davoine, 2015; Varma and Russell, 2016). These issues can be amplified in countries where female participation in the workforce is much lower in comparison to male participation, such as Saudi Arabia (Khalil, Jabeen, Zafar Jadoon and Salman, 2016). Indeed, while considerable changes have been made to equalise the access of female employees in the workplace (e.g. relaxation of the guardianship law, abolishment of the driving ban), deep-rooted conservative cultural beliefs are still present (ArabianBusiness, 2021; Basaffar, Niehm and Bosselman, 2018). Being plunged into such a social environment may hinder the adjustment of female expatriates, especially those from a Western culture, who may experience culture shock that is one of the factors of expatriate failure (Wilczewski, 2019). According to Statista (2021), female expatriates in Saudi Arabia comprised less than 50% of the expatriate workforce, which indicates that there are factors that discourage them from taking up expatriate assignments in Saudi Arabia or/and factors that result into their lack of adjustment and in turn premature return to their home countries or reassignment due to expatriate failure. Despite these issues and female expatriates’ tendency to adjust equally-well or better than their male counterparts due to their often-superior flexibility, adaptability, inclusive team management, and emotional intelligence skills (Bastida, 2018; Mercer, 2020; Salamin and Davoine, 2015), there is a significant geographical gap in IHRM literature in regards to the factors that contribute to the adjustment of female Western expatriates in MNEs in the Saudi Arabian energy sector.