Why does working abroad specifically help women accelerate their careers?
Stacie Nevadomski Berdan: It broadens their capabilities and gives them more responsibility sooner. That’s because there’s often less competition. In places like New York or Chicago, there are hundreds of like-minded M.B.A.s in corporations and a lot of those people have similar backgrounds. As they get higher up, the available slots are fewer. Overseas–even if it’s a smaller market like Belgium or Chile–the revenue stream is less, so not as many people want to live and work there. Those who do get the chance to run an office or a site much sooner than they would here. That’s particularly valuable because the lack of line and management experience is often a major barrier to making it to the top. You say that women are particularly suited to work overseas because of their skill set. What are those skills and why are they in demand? It’s a big generalization, but if you accept that men and women are different, you know that there is an innate feminine style that sociologists talk abou
