International career motives, repatriation and career success of Indian women in Science & Technology
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into international career motives, repatriation and career success of Indian women in Science and Technology.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted with (upper) middle-class Indian women in Science and Technology in Bangalore and New Delhi, India.
Findings
Thematic analysis resulted in four themes – International career motives, Theme 1: cross-cultural and scientific exposure; Repatriation reasons and experiences, Theme 2: family reunion, career prospects and readjustment; Career success, Theme 3: international experience; and career growth, Theme 4: social responsibility. Motives for international career mobility of Indian women were: exposure to foreign cultures, international collaboration in science and personal and professional development. Family formation and reunion and career prospects were reasons for repatriation and positively influenced repatriation experiences of Indian women. Readjustment to people and conditions in India impacted their repatriation experiences negatively. The meaning women attribute to career success is grounded in recognition from peers in science, career growth, satisfaction and contribution to science and Indian society.
Research limitations/implications
The sample of Indian female scientists may limit generalization of the findings to global career professionals in other professions from other countries with different socio-cultural and economic contexts.
Practical implications
HR policies that foster international careers of women scientists as well as women's networks in science to share and apply knowledge, and their contribution to the Indian economy and society will enhance global career success of women and strengthen the sustainable competitive position of organizations.
Originality/value
The study provides new insights into motivation for international career mobility and repatriation of women professionals from a developing country and their career success in the home country, and contributes to the development of theoretical frameworks on international career mobility and career success.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Guest Editorial team and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on a previous version of this paper. The authors would like to thank the Indian women in Science and Technology for sharing their international career experiences. The research project was partially funded by: The Netherlands Organisation of Scientific Research and the Indian Council of Social Science Research as part of the ICSSR Social Science Scholar Exchange Program India-the Netherlands and The Catharine van Tussenbroek Fund, the Netherlands.
Citation
Valk, R., Van der Velde, M., Van Engen, M. and Godbole, R. (2014), "International career motives, repatriation and career success of Indian women in Science & Technology", Journal of Global Mobility, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 203-233. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-07-2013-0047
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited