Purpose – To explore self‐directed expatriates' relationships with their home and host countries by drawing on an existing model of expatriate managers' allegiance to home and host organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Using a qualitative methodology and thematic analysis, the study...

Globalisation has led to increasing international mobility amongst business and education professionals. Whilst expatriate management literature focuses on expatriate assignment of corporate executives, expatriate academics remain an under researched group. Higher education literature has...

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the “darker side” of what it means to engage in an international academic career. Extending beyond well‐documented themes relating to the difficulties of cross‐cultural adjustment and unfulfilled expectations/opportunities for promotion, this paper...

Purpose – This special issue seeks to scope the past, present and future study of those individuals who independently journey abroad for work – the self‐initiated expatriate – a topic which is now attracting increasing attention among management scholars and practitioners alike....

Purpose – This paper aims to move towards clarification of the self‐initiated expatriate/expatriation construct with the aim of extending and deepening theory development in the field. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on Suddaby's think piece on construct clarity, this paper applies...

Whilst globalisation has led to increasing international mobility, the contemporary expatriate management literature has focused on managers and corporate executives who are sent on an overseas appointment by their employers. By comparison, self‐selecting expatriates remain an...

Purpose – To provide a theoretically grounded exploration of the family's role in the decision to expatriate independently. Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative study drawing on data collected in interviews with 30 British faculty working in universities in Singapore, New...