When the Going Gets Tougher: International Assignments, External Shocks and the Factor of Gender

Job Embeddedness (JE) theory proposes that higher levels of an individual's perceived on-the-job and off-the-job embeddedness - measured using the key dimensions of fit, links and sacrifices - lead to stronger ties to the organisation and community. Consequently, mounting evidence from past research suggests that embeddedness has a mitigating effect on turnover intention when shocks occur. Yet, most previous insights focus on male expatriates, neglecting gender differences from female workers. With data collected from 288 expatriates in the United Kingdom (UK) and using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), various JE configurations are identified which reduce female/male expatriates' intentions to turnover after a significant shock experience abroad. By showing how and why the number and type of shocks and the effective pattern of JE changes between genders, the ongoing debate towards a more gender-specific understanding on what mitigates or facilitates turnover intentions is pushed forward. Implications and limitations are discussed.