Abstract
The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological study was to describe how female U.S. government employees experienced their leadership overseas in multinational organizations. The interviewed participants each served overseas in a multinational organization, had at least 15 years of experience in the U.S. government, and were in a mid- to senior-level leadership position in the U.S. government. |Multinational organizations that have integrated female expatriates into their leadership ranks have experienced a number of benefits. First, they have a larger, more diverse and experienced population to choose from to send overseas. Second, organizations with a higher percentage of women amongst the senior-management ranks financially outperform corporations with fewer or no women in similar positions. Third, the addition of women into leadership positions contributes to more transformational, ethical, cooperative and collaborative work environments.|This qualitative study captured eight themes as experienced by nine participants: Expatriate experience is professionally and personally rewarding; being a female expatriate can be isolating, but not lonely; others adjustment to their gender; specific leadership traits and behaviors can remove cultural and gender barriers; cultural adjustment is challenging, immerse in the culture early; relationships are critical to expatriate success; senior-level females are often tested or ignored after they first arrive; serving as a female expatriate can make a way forward for other women. This study adds to the limited body of work on female expatriate leadership in overseas, cross-cultural environments|Keywords: Expatriate, female leadership, multinational organizations, cultural adjustment, overseas leadership