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Extant research has examined women’s under-representation (relative to men) in international
careers in respect to prejudice towards women in host countries, organizational resistance to
selecting women, women’s own disinterest in taking international work and host country societal
expectations of women. Although research has suggested the benefits for global organizations of
having management diversity, the literature has given limited consideration to barriers and
opportunities for international careers for women from developing countries. This study
addresses this gap in examining the perceptions of 243 professional women in Sri Lanka about
factors they perceive affect opportunities for international careers. The findings suggest the
women perceive that positive female role models and tamily/husband support may facilitate
opportunities, whereas prejudice in host countries, organizational gender discrimination and home
country societal values emphasizing a primary responsibility of women as wives, mothers and daughters may hinder opportunities. The research has business implications in that, given a global
ageing population and increasing numbers of nontraditional families, organizations seeking to
achieve gender and ethnic diversity among their international cross-cultural managers need to be
cognizant of supporting employees with extended family responsibilities.
