Male Expatriate Accompanying Partners
Dr. Nina Cole
Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Report to Participants
September 2008
The number of female expatriates with male accompanying spouses has slowly been increasing, and this trend is expected to continue. However there is very limited knowledge about the experiences and needs of this new breed of accompanying spouse for global human resources managers to use in designing spousal assistance programs. Three potential issues have been identified: (1) the non-traditional nature of families with male accompanying spouses; (2) the almost certain dual career situation of female expatriates with male spouses; and (3) the expected urgent practical need for employment assistance for male spouses. This study of 45 male spouses, the largest sample group to date, reports their views on these issues.
During 2007-2008, I traveled through the Asia-Pacific region to conduct a research study on spousal adjustment. The study was funded by the SHRM Foundation (affiliated with the U.S. Society for Human Resource Management). A total of 238 spouses (193 female and 45 male) completed a questionnaire regarding employment assistance. Of those, 100 participants (67 female and 33 male) volunteered to meet with me for a more detailed discussion on spousal assistance. The subgroup of male spouses was analyzed for this report.
Executive Summary
The results of the study showed that a significantly higher proportion of the male spouses (63 percent) identified themselves as being career-oriented than did the females (29 percent). The male spouses had significantly lower cultural adjustment (related to food, housing, medical care etc.) than the female spouses. More male spouses (24%) than female spouses (16%) received employer-provided career assistance. Males rated the value of this assistance more highly than females, but still considered it mediocre (average rating of 3.64 out of 5).
Interviews with 33 male spouses indicated that they were very supportive of their wife's career. They had come to terms with their pioneering role as accompanying male spouses, although they found that most other people had not. They had a lot of input into the decision to expatriate, which was made jointly with their wives. The male spouses had also come to terms with the career difficulties they were facing as an accompanying spouse. Although they were not expecting much in the way of employment support from their wife's employer, they would welcome it. They also expressed unique needs for separate support groups and activities for male spouses. They found that female spouse groups were generally unwelcoming and unsuitable for them. Those who were part of informal male spouse groups found the social and networking activity they experienced there to be very helpful in coping with their unique role.
