knowledge, international mobility, and careers || can expatriation research learn from other...

Can Expatriation Research Learn from Other Disciplines? The Case of International CareerHabitusAuthor(s): Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Michael Meyer, Johannes Steyrer and Katharina LangerSource: International Studies of Management & Organization, Vol. 37, No. 3, Knowledge,International Mobility, and Careers (Fall, 2007), pp. 89-107Published by: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40397706 .Accessed: 16/06/2014 08:08

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Int. Studies ofMgt. & Org., vol. 37, no. 3, Fall 2007, pp. 89-107. 2007 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN 0020-8825 / 2007 $9.50 + 0.00. DOI 10.2753/IMO0020-8825370304

Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Michael Meyer, Johannes Steyrer, and Katharina Langer

Can Expatriation Research Learn from Other Disciplines? The Case of International Career Habitus

Abstract: Even though there is a rich diversity of empirical research and theory building about particular aspects of international careers, more comprehensive theoretical models are rare. This paper contributes to career theory by outlining major elements of a comprehensive theoretical frame for describing and explaining international careers. It proposes afield and habitus perspective of careers based on the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. Such a perspective enhances the insight into the structure-agency problem of international careers, offers an opportunity to exceed single personality factors through the concept of career habitus, and supports a differentiated view of the international career arena.

This is a conceptual piece contributing to the theoretical foundation of expatriation and international careers. It uses an existing theoretical concept of careers - that is, the field and habitus perspective of careers (Iellatchitch, Mayrhofer, and Meyer 2003) based on the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (e.g., Bourdieu 1977) - and answers one major question: What

Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Michael Meyer, Johannes Steyrer, and Katharina Langer, Interdisciplinary Department of Management and Organisational Behaviour Wirtschaftsuniversitt Wien (WU-Wien), Althanstrasse 51, A- 1090 Vienna, Austria (tel.: +43-1-31336-4553; fax: +43-1-313 36-724; www.wu-wien.ac.at/inst/ivm/lo- cal.htm). Correspondence should be directed to the first author (e-mail: Wolfgang. [email protected]).

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90 MAYRHOFER ETAL (AUSTRIA)

can expatriation research - and, in a more general sense, international career research - learn from the concept developed within a theory tradition rarely used in career research? Although the study contains some qualitative empirical material, this is not an empirical study. The qualitative data illustrate the abstract variables of the concept, filling them with content from the field of expatriation and international careers. Thus, the reader gets a better understanding of the concept. This study has two major purposes.

First, we want to emphasize the importance of theoretical and conceptual work in the area of expatriation and international careers. Empirical studies in these areas flourish. Various aspects of international careers (for a general overview see, e.g., Black, Gregersen, and Mendenhall 1992a; Brewster 1991) have been studied from a number of perspectives, including specific issues such as the situation of females at the global level (e.g., Taylor, Napier, and Mayrhofer 2002), the phenomenon of global managers (e.g., Suutari 2003), specific adaptation problems of expatriates (e.g., Mendenhall and Oddou 1985), the role of expatriates in the process of internationalization (e.g., Bonache and Cervino 1997), European specifics (e.g., Scullion and Brewster 2001), or the issue of repatriation (Linehan and Mayrhofer 2005; Suutari and Brewster 2003). In comparison, theoretical contributions are less frequent. To be sure, there are some major contributions from general career research (for overviews, see, e.g., Arthur, Hall, and Lawrence 1989b; Glaser 1968; Maanen 1977). Such concepts include, among others, conceptions at the individual level focusing on psychological aspects (e.g., Super 1957), at the interface level between the individual and the organization (e.g., Gunz 1989a; Rosenbaum 1984; Schein 1978), and at the more macro level of occupations and labor markets (see, e.g., Stewman and Konda 1983). For international careers, a number of theoretical concepts also exist, especially in the area of international assignments, adaptation, and expatriation (see, e.g., Black, Gregersen and Mendenhall 1992b; Black, Mendenhall, and Oddou 1991; Peltonen 1997). However, more comprehensive models allowing a theoretically coherent look at various aspects of international careers are rare.

Second, the study aims at illustrating the fruitfulness of a wide disciplin- ary perspective for dealing with expatriation and international careers. This is a multifaceted and multilevel phenomenon. Leaving one's place of origin, moving into foreign territories, confronting and overcoming difficult situations, and, more often than not, gloriously returning home is an archetype of human development. It is reflected in numerous myths, sagas, and hero stories. Odysseus's tricky journey to the edges of the earth, Siegfried's Rhine adventures with his Nibelungen Knights or Frodo's messianic voyage in Lord of the Rings, are vivid examples. In this sense, expatriation and international careers are deeply rooted phenomena at the individual and collective levels.



CAN EXPATRIATION RESEARCH LEARN FROM OTHER DISCIPLINES? 91

More recent and profane political, economic, and organizational developments during the past decades have undoubtedly made international careers more salient. In political terms, especially in the European Union, significant efforts have been made to reduce the administrative burden of cross-national moves. Programs such as SOCRATES, Leonardo da Vinci, or TEMPUS support the transfer of young people during their educational socialization. From an economic perspective, business activities across national borders have greatly increased over the past decades. For example, exports in the pre-2004 EU- 15 countries more than doubled between 1991 and 2001 ("International Trade," in Eurostat Yearbook 2003). In organizational terms, mergers and acquisitions, international alliances, culturally mixed work teams, the internal labor market of global companies, and the emergence of a worldwide external labor market for some workforce segments provide the current context for many careers. In light of the many facets and levels related to expatriation and international careers, conceptual views that are not limited to the traditional focus of career research (i.e., person and organization) seem to be especially valuable to see new aspects as well as familiar aspects in a new light.

Career field and habitus perspective - a step toward a comprehensive career theory

As careers are located at the "intersection of societal history and individual biography" (Grandjean 1981, 1057) and represent actors' movements through a social structure over time (Becker and Strauss 1956, 253), they link micro- and macro-frames of references (Schein 1978) that traditionally have been regarded as indissoluble (Barley 1989; Gunz 1989b; Hughes 1937). These characteristics make theorizing about careers especially complicated as various analytical levels and types of actors have to be taken into account. Therefore, most career scholars would probably be rather demanding when defining core criteria for a fruitful career theory. Of course, generic characteristics of good theories, such as parsimony, clarity, absence of logical contradictions, and, at least within the dominating epistemological paradigm, openness to empirical testing (Lave and March 1975)1 apply in this area as well. Beyond that, however, many would argue that additional requirements stemming from the

specifics of careers have to be met. First, such a theory needs a capacity to differentiate between objective and

subjective careers (see, e.g., Hughes 1937, 409 ff.) and should be able to link both perspectives. Therefore, it needs some constructionist reflexivity to meet this demand. Second, the theory has to generate ideas about the main factors influencing the formation, stabilization, and modification of career patterns. More precisely, within the opaque complexity of causal factors influencing ca-




reers (see, e.g., Steyrer, Mayrhofer, and Meyer 2005, 14) it has to select major factors and relate them to each other. Third, such a theory has to link various perspectives: micro and macro; individual, organization, and society; action and structure. It must mediate between rigid structuralist approaches, which regard careers as constituted by social or organizational structure, and indi- vidualist approaches overemphasizing individual actions and strategy. Careers are neither fully determined by social rules and regulations nor solely based on free individual choice. The modeling of the interface between structure and action should not emphasize either side in the structure-agency tension. Most modern social theories model this interface in a reflexive, circular way (e.g., Coleman 1990; Giddens 1984; Luhmann 1984). Structure both enables and restricts action, and action both follows and reproduces structure. Fourth, the theory has to be flexible enough to cope with new developments such as new knowledge-based occupational fields, flat hierarchies, internationalization of careers, fragile forms of employment, new self-employment, or career crafting, thus going beyond a simple individual-organization dichotomy. Fifth, a comprehensive career theory has to be flexible enough to integrate well-established sociopsychological constructs and the corresponding results of a long and successful career research tradition.

Given this background, we propose to look at careers in general and at international careers in particular from a perspective that focuses on career fields, career habitus, and career capitals.

Career fields

For Bourdieu, a social field is a patterned set of practices, which suggests competent action in conformity with rules and roles. It constitutes a network of positions. In this playground or battlefield, various actors, endowed with a certain field-relevant capital, try to advance their position by following individual strategies. Playing according to the rules of the game as defined by the specific set of capital most valuable for holding power within the field contributes to the reproduction of the fields (Bourdieu 1977, 1986).

Careers as the sequence of positions influenced by work-related individual efforts are not a field, but unfold within a field. Career fields are the social context within which individual members of the workforce make their moves. Owning a specific portfolio of field-relevant capital, individuals try to maintain or improve their place in the given and unfolding network of work-related positions. This is done through a patterned set of practices enabled and con- strained by the rules of the field and, in turn, contributing to the shaping of these rules. Career fields have a dynamic quality. This reflects the focal relationship between work and time (Arthur, Hall, and Lawrence 1989a).




Using coupling and configuration as two basic dimensions for differentiating subfields of careers, one can differentiate between four "ideal-type" subfields of career: company world, free-floating professionalism, self-employment, and chronic flexibility (Iellatchitch et al. 2003). Each of these fields is characterized by specific rules about promotion, the value of career capitals, and so forth.

Career habitus

For Bourdieu, habitus is an ensemble of schemata of perception, thinking, feeling, evaluating, speaking, and acting that preformats all the expressive, verbal, and practical manifestations and utterances of an actor (Krais 1988). It has a corporal dimension, being embodied history, the active presence of the whole past of which it is the product (Bourdieu 1990b). Through habitus, regular individual action patterns over time, which are neither the sole product of external structures nor of mere subjective intention, can be explained. Although primary socialization is of great importance, the development of habitus cannot be restricted to early childhood. The habitus is continually adjusted to the current context and constantly reinforced or modified by further experience (i.e., by positive and negative reinforcements during a whole life).

Four assumptions characterize the concept of habitus (Krais 1988; Mller 1986):

1. Unconsciousness: Habitus operates at the subconscious level throughout life. Therefore, it is largely resistant to easy reflection and instant and deliberate modification.

2. Incorporation of social structures: Habitus as a cognitive, perceptive, and action matrix leads to cognitive structures that can be seen as incorporated social structures.

3. Strategy: Habitual thinking, acting, and perceiving are directed toward objects specific for a particular social field.

4. Stability: Habitus is primarily formed by childhood socialization and is largely of an inert disposition. Nevertheless, it can be modified by secondary, professional, and organizational socialization.

Habitus and field are linked in a circular relationship. Involvement in a field

shapes the habitus, which, in turn, shapes the actions that reproduce the field

(Crossley 2001). Thus, habitus is both a product of a social field's structure

(opus operatum) and a main force of (re-)structuring these fields (modus ope- randi) (Bourdieu 1992, 281). In order to understand and explain the actions



94 MAYRHOFER ET AL (AUSTRIA)

of players in the field, one needs information about their dispositions and competence - their habitus - and about the state of play in the game as well as the players' individual location in the field. Although general habitus can be regarded as a durable but evolving system of dispositions, career habitus is more confined. It is a habitus that "fits" a particular career field. It is specifi- cally related to a career field and may be defined by the dispositions that tend to be actualized automatically within this field. A particular career habitus ensures that an actor acts, perceives, and thinks according to the rules of the field; his or her movements within the field of career appear as "natural." He or she acts "intentionally without intention" (Bourdieu 1990a, 12). The idea of progression and a desire for growth is central in career habitus. This dynamic quality may take different forms depending on the field's rules: climbing the hierarchical ladder, increasing reputation or level of expertise, and so forth.

Career capital

Individuals own not only a specific habitus, but also capital, which is in a way the other side of the coin, as habitus can be perceived as incorporated capital. Bourdieu differentiates between three basic types of capital: economic, social, and cultural capital (Bourdieu 1986).

Economic capital appears, above all, in the form of general, anonymous, all-purpose convertible money from one generation to the next. It can be more easily and efficiently converted into cultural, social, and symbolic capital than vice versa.

Social capital involves relationships of mutual recognition and acquain- tance, resources based upon social connections and group or class member- ship.

Cultural or informational capital appears in three forms: (1) incorporated (i.e., durable dispositions of habitus) which includes acquired skills and qualifications; (2) objectivized through cultural products like books, paintings, and machines; and (3) institutionalized through academic titles and degrees, which are relatively independent of the actual incorporated cultural capital.

A fourth type of capital, symbolic capital, is closely related to the respec- tive fields. The rules of a particular social field specify which combination of the three basic forms of capital will be authorized as symbolic capital, thus becoming socially recognized as legitimate.

Career capital is the particular sort of capital valued within a career field. Individuals in career fields possess a unique portfolio of capitals. The genetic disposition when entering life, the social context one is born into, and the interplay between these two, provide a starting point for the development of capitals in general. Through personal, educational, and professional devel-




opment processes, an increasing portfolio of career capitals evolves. From a different theoretical perspective, "knowing-why, knowing-how, and knowing- whom" have been identified as components of career capital linking the individual and the collective level (Arthur, Inkson, and Pringle 1999).

The interplay of career field, career capital, and career habitus

Illustrated in Figure 1 are the core dimensions of the three major concepts - career field, capitals, and habitus - and their interplay.

The career field provides the basic battleground in which career patterns unfold. In essence, the career field is characterized by specific rules about the acquisition of various types of capital and their transformation into symbolic capital. When social, economic, and cultural capitals are recognized in a specific field as valid and valuable, they become symbolic capitals. For example, although being able to read Homer's Iliad in the original Greek language is without any doubt cultural capital, it only becomes symbolic capital and

something valuable for careers in specific fields. In the field of active sports, this type of capital is less likely to be transformed into symbolic capital, thus

enhancing career prospects, but such a transformation is quasi-automatic when historians with a specialization in ancient Southern Europe meet. In a similar

way, different types of career habitus are to a greater or lesser extent suitable for different career fields. Specific rules of the field allow individuals with a certain habitus to be at home in these fields (or feel alienated), rewarding and

punishing in specific habitus, and so forth. Career habitus and career capitals are closely intertwined as they constitute two sides of the same coin. Career habitus is the deeply internalized, usually unconscious incorporation of the social environment; career capitals, although linked to the individual, are more easily recognizable externally. The interplay between career capitals and career habitus in a specific career field, populated by other individual and collective actors, contributes the emerging career patterns.

Empirical illustrations: international careers

Data from an exploratory study (Langer 2004) illustrate parts of the three con-

ceptual cornerstones - career field, career habitus, and career capital - from an international perspective. Linked to the Vienna Career Panel Project (ViCAPP; see www.vicapp.at), transcripts from in-depth interviews with highly mobile and flexible individuals (n = 9) pursuing an international career are available. The four males and five females had ages ranging between 30 and 38, they have on average 1 1.5 years of professional experience, and they come from seven different West European countries and from Australia. All had several




Figure 1 . Career fields, career capital, career pattern, and career habitus- dimensions and interplay

specific rules about the acquisition and transformation o^V capitals and the generation of symbolic capital ^V

> Habitus


International career field

Three major aspects of the international career field are reflected in the way individuals construct their subjective careers.

First, international career fields contain a strong developmental aspect. Individuals consciously reflect on their professional careers and deliberately try to re-create and further develop themselves - the "project of the self." For example, one respondent reported:

In March 2001 1 had a poor performance review in which I was told I was not building enough relations with my colleagues or with my clients. That was pretty severe in the world of business, of consulting So I took myself apart and I rebuilt myself in that period of time I really wanted to take a break, focus on me, on what's important in my life. And now I know myself better.

Second, seeking adventure, being spontaneous, courageous, and open for new experiences in an unknown environment, are key characteristic of careers in international career fields. This includes looking into the future and not to the past, and hardly regretting things that have happened, seeing the latter as a valuable source of experience. Being different from others is part of their self-definition: "I have done a lot of things I think - compared to a lot of people. Especially in a place like Portsmouth, you come across people who have not been over the water, you know [laughs] other than the Isle of Wight, and you think 'Oh my God.'"

Third, high integrity is a crucial element in this career field. Consequently, this is reflected in the respondents' actions. They not only simply say so, "I do admire people who have integrity in what they do and say." But, they also let it materialize: "I think it is respectful to stay with a company when they pay for your studies, also some time after my course finished, one or two years after that. That's my principle. I want to stay in the company and show them that I didn't use them to get my course done."

Individuals in our sample do not see themselves as ego-centered free agents pursuing simply their own benefits. On the contrary, the benefit of others is highly valued. This kind of loyalty also points toward social capital: In an international career field, the accumulation of social capital because of extended social networks within and beyond organizations is crucial.

International career habitus

Looking at stories about career strategies and career success, a number of key aspects seem to emerge about the field adequate international career habitus.




Having a number of options in different areas, not being blocked by long- term strategies, keeping things flexible, and a certain unwillingness to commit oneself to one option for fear of risking one's own development are deeply anchored in many respondents. As one person put it: "The first twelve months were probably the most exciting, with lots of things happening in the stock market at that time, during 2000. But things sort of started to dry up and the work sort of became much more tedious and I felt I was not developing my career by staying. I was thinking about leaving, had enough of it."

This deeply rooted drive for alternatives and "unlocking" oneself is mir- rored in the readiness to change the career field completely. As one person expresses it:

And I would [emphasized] like to be in a more creative environment 'cause that suits me as a person. That's where my interest and my passions are. And I couldn't ever feel passionate about what I do. ... And I think I will study history of arts again in September, because I at least want to feel that side of myself outside the career.

The tension between a well-paid job and the uncertainties linked with a change are clearly visible.

Keeping things open is based on significant self-confidence in one's abili- ties. Although at times doubts and anxieties set in, in the long run positive self-reliance dominates: "Yes, they kicked me out. For myself I thought like yea, this might be the opportunity. Because I always wanted to go abroad."

Some respondents emphasize a certain degree of lack of ambition "deep within":

I have a little bit of a competitive spirit but not too much. Meaning that when I play a game, I play it to win, but not absolutely - you know what I mean? I like the competition, but if I lose, it's ok as well. I mean, we just play. I think most of the time motivation in work is more people than ambition or money. I don't care too much about my salary. You know what I mean? I don't really care. As long as I am fine in my job, it's ok. Colleagues are very important for me - more than ambition.

In accordance with this finding about ambition, not placing a major emphasis on classic career success measures such as promotion and salary seems to be another emerging aspect of the international career habitus of the individuals in this sample. Asked about whether it is important for him to get promoted, one interviewee responds: "No. I prefer to have knowledge about things. Now I am a recruiter but I don't want to do this too long. I could for example become a specialist: Comp[ensation] & Ben[enefits]. You know, to touch different fields and . . . but not to be more successful and to move higher up."




Another respondent points out that money is an issue but not the sole or primary mover: "I would emphasize that both times, although I had said that financial rewards were a reason for moving, it was not the most important reason."

Beyond that, respondents mention a number of career goals such as in- dependence and freedom, a balanced relationship between work and private life, and looking for challenges and responsibilities.

International career capital

There is no clear indication from the individuals in our sample that economic capital is of primary importance. Of course, money - here understood as available economic capital and not as incorporated environment being part of the career habitus - plays a role for achieving a desired lifestyle: "I work because I need money; I want to go to nice restaurants and so on." Neverthe- less, money is not a primary driver.

In terms of cultural capital, respondents express strong views about the skills and qualifications necessary for coping successfully with the requirements of the international career field they are in.

The overarching theme is the importance of portable skills and qualifications transferable to a great variety of career fields. At the heart is a "Desire to learn ... a skill which is ... very important today, this adaptability and

ability to learn new skills." The learning processes not only cover the current job requirements but also

anticipate future career fields or jobs: "I think I am gaining such valuable things at the moment, transferable to other companies, and I definitely see myself progressing I am always thinking about portable skills now."

The ability to market oneself to different employers and in different career fields is seen as one of the crucial cultural capitals in the international career field: "I am much more focused on how I would be to external employers."

An employable qualification profile and good self-marketing activities, the former part of culture capital and the latter a result of it, lead to positive results: "A number of head hunters started contacting me."

In turn, this strengthens one's ability to survive in the career field and live a self-determined life: "I would say it is that I have my own money, my own life, that I am able to take care of myself."

Individuals in this group are also aware of the importance of technical know-how as part of the cultural capital. Two related aspects emerge. First, technical know-how constantly has to be adapted to current trends and future

requirements. Second, transferability is important. Individuals spread the

learning content over a broad area ("Nothing specialized. I did not want to




specialize") to avoid the risk of becoming too narrow. ("I was trying to spread my sort of long-term risks by studying a second degree in a different area")

Thus, they move toward a diverse portfolio of skills and qualifications: "I am more a generalist than I am a specialist. I prefer to touch a little of every- thing and not go too deep into one detail."

Being able to see the whole picture and react accordingly seems to be es- sential: "I am more interested in that [the overall picture] rather than in one particular area. I have got to see how all the pieces fit together."

Social capital seems to be a value, per se, and not primarily instrumental for professional promotion. The use of social capital for professional purposes is seen ambiguously. Respondents emphasize that their career advancement is due to competencies, effort, and performance and is not based on social capital. Still, even if in the end one's own efforts count, the value of possess- ing social capital is acknowledged. Using personal relationships, one small aspect of social capital, as an example:

I had two managers who sort of said I want to help you, I want to mentor you and I want to help you to move on and do this. That was two managers ago, but she has been saying this to the right ears, saying [name], you know . . . and with the direct result of that I have this job now. But of course it was the result of hard work.

Contributions to international career research

An enhanced understanding of the structure-agency problem in international careers

Agency and structure's mutual relationship, as well as relative importance for explaining individual behavior, are a core theme in theorizing about organizations and careers. In organization theory, the whole continuum of possible viewpoints can be found. A number of approaches, mainly coming from a psychological angle, emphasize intrapersonal processes and factors, thus favoring the agency point of view. They call attention to factors such as needs and motives, values, attitudes, or more composite concepts such as character or personality. Other concepts underline the importance of contextual factors for behavior of and in organizations. These include organizational structure, culture, or the relevant environment (see, e.g., Staehle 1999, 151 ff.). In many of the approaches, the importance of both aspects is recognized. However, few concepts avoid a theoretical preference for one side. Examples include the very general behavioral formula of Lewin (1936, 12) or the elaborated circular relationships within structuration theory (Giddens 1984).




Unlike in traditional career research, contextual factors play an important role in theorizing and empirically researching international careers. One contextual factor is traditionally important: national culture. Although there is no consensus about what culture really is (see, e.g., the classical overview in Kroeber and Kluckhohn 1952), there is a strong agreement that culture plays a role when analyzing international careers. For example, in the expatriation literature, crucial issues such as adaptation to the new environment, time to get effective, or repatriation, are nearly always linked with concepts such as culture or cultural distance. Here, a contextual factor representing structural forces plays a crucial role.

Culture is integrated into the research, but the theoretical rationale behind it and the mechanisms that form the link between contextual factors and individual agency often remain opaque. The theoretical framework presented here uses career field, career habitus, and career capitals as theoretical cornerstones to explain further the link between the agency perspective at the individual level and the contextual element at the macro level.

Using culture as an example and arguing from the career field and habitus perspective: culture does not directly influence concrete career behavior but operates by influencing various aspects of career fields, career habitus, and career capitals. In terms of career fields, culture-specific norms and regulations influence, for example, the evaluation of available positions in the field, the degree to which various strategies to gain a dominant position in a field are acceptable and successful, and the valid rules for playing the career game. Culture is also relevant for career habitus. What is regarded as an adequate career habitus is heavily influenced by the career field, shaped, in turn, by cultural forces. In addition, culture shapes the modification and development of career habitus by sending signals about what is acceptable and what is not. Culture also has a decisive influence on the transformation of various sorts of capitals into symbolic capital. As the career field specifics, which are heavily culture bound, provide the conditions for what is regarded as "valid currency" (i.e., as career capital and not only as capitals, per se), culture has a strong influence here. In turn, the availability of specific types of symbolic capital shapes the possibilities and limitations for individuals' international career moves.

By focusing the attention on career field, career habitus, and career capitals, and the relationship between these factors located at different levels in the micro-macro spectrum, international career research efforts might be able to conceptualize more convincingly some of its traditional agency-structure issues, such as the role of culture in adaptive behavior or the importance of the institutional and organizational environment for individual career decisions.



102 MAYRHOFER ETAL. (AUSTRIA)

Going beyond personality: career habitus as a focus point

The debate about the right personal profile for pursuing international careers is well developed and has various facets. For example, in the early 1990s, a debate about the Euro-manager emerged, linked to the increasing dynamic and enlargement of the European Union (EU) and the perceived need for an international mobile workforce. At the core of this debate was the search for typical personal characteristics that would enable individuals to make a successful managerial career in the European environment (see, e.g., Lepage 1991). Likewise, the expatriate discussion over the past 30 years had a focus on various personality characteristics (Hays 1974; Guthrie, Ash, and Stevens 2003; Mendenhall, Dunbar, and Oddou 1987) when discussing selection issues. Examples include cultural sensitivity, intercultural competence, ambigu- ity tolerance, socializing skills, flexibility, learning orientation, or being free of prejudice. Although such a perspective is valuable and sound, the career field and habitus perspective broadens this approach and, regarding the environment in the form of career fields, advocates a more embedded view.

Regarding broadening the existing person-focused approaches, habitus goes beyond a more restricted intraperson view because it literally incorporates personal history. In a nutshell, habitus is the embodied history of an individual. It is not only or even mainly personal history in the sense of a series of solely intrapersonal phenomena. Rather, it is an incorporation of the social environment providing the context for the individual's life and career trajectory. Therefore, individual behavior is strongly shaped not only by the current but - through the habitus - also by past environmental factors. Habitus can be seen as a kind of matrix retaining the product of the past experiences in the body of each individual. Expressions such as "embodiment," "disposition," or "cognitive structure" reflect this. Still, Bourdieu avoids an overly substantialist definition of the habitus, insisting on its relative unpredictability. He regards habitus as a "transforming machine" (Bourdieu 1990b) taking individual trajectories into account. The more an individual is confronted with new situations and new contexts, the more he or she will act in an innovative way. Critics (e.g., Boudon 1996) have pointed toward the simple mechanistic determinism and the logic of social reproduction this may imply. However, such a reading is only one among many. The innovative potential of the habitus is influenced by its past history. Thus, if the habitus is not predetermined, individual agency is influenced by socially shaped tendencies and propensities.

Career habitus has always to be seen in relation to a specific field. A specific career habitus associated with a particular career field may lead to an "enchanted" relationship to the world, to the career field, and its particular stake and rules. In this kind of relationship, cultural constraints are transformed into natural inclination




by deeply internalizing the environmental conditions. Consequently, upcoming (career) choices are not made in a tabula rasa situation. In a specific career field and given the concrete career habitus, some alternatives appear more obvious and even natural ("it goes without saying"). Thus, career habitus is characterized by the dispositions that tend to be preferentially actualized within the field of career, because there is this enchanted relationship between career field and career habitus. Within a potentially infinite set of possibilities, contextual opportunities are the primary trigger for actualizing specific dispositions.

For international career research, the concept of career habitus offers a number of opportunities. First, it provides a frame for structuring various single personal variables and relating to each other what often has been analyzed separately. In this way, the great number of personal variables relevant in international career research get a specific relationship. In addition, along the four dimensions of career habitus - unconsciousness, incorporation, strategy, and stability - these variables are also related to the relevant environmental

setting (i.e., to career fields). In this way, this concept gives orientation, allows the link to established research traditions focusing on some of the variables, and relates these variables to each other and to the contextual factors.

Second, the concept of career habitus can caution international career research against an isolated focus on personal variables. From the habitus

perspective, the close relationship between person and environment, especially through the idea of incorporation, becomes evident. Thus, every isolated

analysis has to be aware that a clear segmentation between those two spheres is fragile. Even though analytically and also from a (research) pragmatic point of view this can make sense, the process of interpretation has to be careful not to rip apart what belongs together.

Third, the concept of habitus warns us against an overoptimistic attitude toward training and change. Much of the expatriation literature implicitly assumes that training can close, or at least contribute to reducing, the gap between the current personal profile and the requirements in international careers and career moves. The notion of career habitus takes a cautious view of the speed of individual change, emphasizing what individuals already have and not primarily what they might become. Although this view by no means excludes learning or change, it takes a cautious position about the scope of

change that can be expected. Thus, the importance of the selection procedure, relative to training and development measures, increases.

Differentiated view of the international career arena

The career field and habitus perspectives offer the opportunity of differentiat-

ing career arenas along two basic dimensions: configuration and coupling.



104 MAYRHOFER ETAL. (AUSTRIA)

These dimensions might need some adaptation or even substitution in the international context, but the basic message is important: differentiation. In- stead of implicitly or explicitly assuming a uniform and singular arena where careers take place, the development of four subfields of careers emphasizes a differentiated view. There are some commonalities between the various subfields, but core characteristics differ. This leads to subfields with specific rules and regulations, requiring specific career habitus and specific career capital portfolios.

For international career research, this underlines the importance of a differentiated view when dealing with international career arenas. This claim is not new in international career research. Although the implicit assumption often is the expatriate career, a number of contributions show a differentiated view. For example, research differentiating expatriation experiences according to the cultural gap between home and host countries, the country of origin, or headquarters of a multinational company or the differences between male and female expatriates can be mentioned here. The career field and habitus perspective, with its focus on different subfields of careers, supports such efforts and offers an additional way of reconstructing international careers in a fine-grained way.

Concluding remarks

At a meta-level, this paper adds to the theoretical discussion of international careers by providing a theoretical framework and language not stemming from classical career research, but from a more abstract and general perspective. This is an advantage and a drawback at the same time. On the positive side, this enables theory building and theory-based empirical research in international careers to develop and apply a theoretical framework based on one of the "grand social theories" currently available to diverse international career settings. These settings encompass phenomena that are different at the surface level, such as expatriation, repatriation, international career patterns in a variety of countries and cultures, and determining factors for international career success. However, such a framework can help theoretical thinking to focus on relevant issues because of the broad, yet substantial character of the core variables and their relationships.

This leads to a potential drawback. The concept presented here has a high level of abstraction. There is the danger of vagueness and of being too general. However, there is a clear positive side to that, too. Because of the high level of abstraction, the career field and habitus concept requires and, at the same time, allows the integration of additional theoretical concepts and research streams. In the area of career habitus, for example, the framework presented




here allows the integration of long-established international career research. In this way, a fruitful combination of concepts and theories at a very concrete level, targeting specific phenomena, and a more abstract theory, guiding the link between different streams of thinking, emerges. Variables relevant for international career research are put together and linked. In addition, the link of variables goes across various levels, thus allowing multilevel analyses es- sential for thorough international career research.

Note

1 . For a reflective view of the ability to understand the real world via the formula- tion of theories and models and empirical research, see Starbuck (2004).

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Issue Table of ContentsInternational Studies of Management & Organization, Vol. 37, No. 3, Knowledge, International Mobility, and Careers (Fall, 2007), pp. 1-125Front MatterPreface: Knowledge, International Mobility, and Careers [pp. 3-15]Predicting Stickiness Factors in the International Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriates [pp. 16-43]The Protean Career: Exemplified by First World Foreign Residents in Western Europe? [pp. 44-64]Mutual Adjustment Processes in International Teams: Lessons for the Study of Expatriation [pp. 65-88]Can Expatriation Research Learn from Other Disciplines? The Case of International Career Habitus [pp. 89-107]Knowledge Sharing through Expatriate Relationships: A Social Capital Perspective [pp. 108-125]Back Matter

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