Expatriate childhood as the first domino: does early international exposure lead to a later international career?

Abstract

PurposeThis paper looks to study how adult third culture kids (ATCKs) perceive that their childhood international experience is linked to their career interests and choices in later adult life.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative study is based on 34 semi-structured interviews analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The authors adopted social cognitive career theory as a theoretical framework for the work.FindingsThe findings indicate that regardless of the ATCKs field of expertise, their international childhood links to various international exposures and work experiences already in their early career. ATCK background can also be interpreted as an essential facet that promotes significant interest towards international roles, work tasks and careers because they are familiar with a globally mobile lifestyle. A global childhood was represented as a phenomenon that fosters stress tolerance, and ATCKs' unique international capabilities were perceived as an advantage for employment. The authors also found that they tended to set high goals for themselves in terms of education and career, in order to pursue high-end international positions.Practical implicationsATCKs' value interpretations of their strengths, skills and knowledge highly relate to working in an international setup. When applying for jobs, ATCKs could find it beneficial to highlight their early international experiences and explain why this is valuable experience for organizations that are seeking highly educated, globally competent, and flexible employees. Also, information about ATCKs could be included in international business course curricula, in order to foster an increased recognition of the value and benefits of hiring individuals with a TCK background.Originality/valueThis paper is the first qualitative study which empirically examines ATCKs' longer term career interests and career decisions among individuals with adult work experience. This study contributes to the knowledge about how early life international experiences are interpreted in the context of work-life decisions from a social cognitive perspective.

The global chameleons: the impact of early life international exposure on the career capital of adult third culture kids

“…All of these findings indicate that ATCKs' capabilities in work life should be understood more broadly than just comprising their cross-cultural abilities. The analysis also shows that ATCKs learn to cope relatively easily in new life situations and are therefore ready to take on international positions in the future (Caselius and Mäkelä, 2022). Knowledge of certain markets and the experience of living abroad as an expatriate family were also skills that some participants had been able to harness to benefit their work life in positions such as international sales or international human resource management (HRM) positions.…”

“…how they tolerate working in uncertain situations and new environments) which has also been reported among partners (Kanstrén and Suutari, 2021). ATCKs were also seen to have developed a strong international orientation during their childhood years that guided their future education decisions and career choices (Caselius and Mäkelä, 2022). Their high amount of international experience after being a TCK is a significant finding, since many of the ATCKs were still in the primary stages of their career.…”

“…ATCKs carry an international identity (Caselius and Mäkelä, 2022), and their experience is rooted deeply in who they are as individuals and what kind of CC and career preferences they have. Although their experiences may involve challenges, ATCKs were pleased with their international background, since they considered themselves to have greatly benefitted from the CC they had developed abroad.…”

“…A range of studies have analyzed the competencies found among ATCKs (Bonebright, 2010;Tarique and Weisbord, 2013;Westropp et al, 2016). But although ATCKs have been studied from different perspectives, the understanding of the CC they gain (and lose) during their early international experiences and the longer term impacts of such developmental experiences has been highlighted as needing further attention (Abe, 2018;Caselius and M€ akel€ a, 2022;Lauring et al, 2019).…”

The evolving field of global mobility: responses to global volatility (2013–2022)

“…, 2022). We also recognize the importance of studying the impact of expatriation on the expatriate's partners' well-being (Kanstrén and Mäkelä, 2022; Biswas et al ., 2022) and children (Caselius and Mäkelä, 2022). Moreover, Host Country Nationals (HCNs) constitute another important category of stakeholders affected by the expatriates whose experiences are starting to be investigated (Heizmann et al ., 2018; Hsu et al ., 2022).…”