NASP Publications

Gender Differences in Cultural Acceptance and Career Orientation Among Internationall Mobile and Non-Internationally Mobile Adolescents

Michael E. Gerner, Fred Perry

pp. 267—283

Abstract: An adolescent who spends some part of his or her developmental years in one or more countries other than their country of origin or citizenship due to the international work of their parents is called an Internationally Mobile adolescent (IM) or Third Culture Kid (TCK) or Global Nomad (GN) or International School Student (ISS). Research has suggested that these adolescents develop greater cultural acceptance; they have an increased openness to learning other languages; they generally are satisfied living abroad; they wish to maintain geographically mobile lives; and they are interested in future international careers.Interestingly, gender differences on these variables with internationally mobile adolescents have not appeared in the professional literature even though there is a voluminous literature with other groups. This reanalysis used data from the largest known study of internationally mobile adolescents on two continents with peers who have maintained residence in only one country throughout their lives (N = 1,076). Findings support the impression of consistent gender differences. This analysis suggests the possibility that living abroad is a crucial experience to develop female interest in international careers. The largest and most meaningful differences in this study are between females who have lived abroad and both males and females who have not, and between females and males who have never lived abroad.