Acculturation, coping, and integration success of international skilled migrants: An integrative review and multilevel framework

• Published date: 01 July 2019
• Date: 01 July 2019
• Author: Mila B. Lazarova,Günter K. Stahl,Callen C. Clegg,Aida Hajro
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12233

REVIEW ARTICLE

Acculturation, coping, and integration success of

international skilled migrants: An integrative

review and multilevel framework

Aida Hajro

1,2

|Günter K. Stahl

3

|Callen C. Clegg

1

|Mila B. Lazarova

4

1

Brunel Business School, Brunel University

London, London, UK

2

Institute for Human Resource Management,

Vienna University of Economics and Business

(WU Vienna), Vienna, Austria

3

Institute for International Business (IIB),

Vienna University of Economics and Business

(WU Vienna), Vienna, Austria

4

Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser

University, Vancouver, British Columbia,

Canada

Correspondence

Aida Hajro, Brunel Business School, Brunel

University London, London UB8 3PH, UK; or

Institute for Human Resource Management,

Vienna University of Economics and Business

(WU Vienna), Welthandelsplatz 1, Vienna

1020, Austria.

Email: aida.hajro@brunel.ac.uk

Abstract

In this article, we review the limited but growing body of

research on international skilled migrants and examine to

what extent knowledge generated in adjacent research

streams—specifically, work on assigned and self‐initiated

expatriates—can be meaningfully applied to aid our under-

standing of the challenges, coping strategies, and accultura-

tion dynamics of skilled migrants. We develop a framework

that explains how variables and processes at multiple levels

(individual, organisational, and societal) influence migrant

acculturation and coping and result in integration‐related

outcomes in the domains of personal/family life and

workplace/career. We discuss directions for future research

and implications for practice.

KEYWORDS

acculturationmodes, coping strategies, individual,organisational and

societal influences, international skilled migrants, migrantintegration

success

1|INTRODUCTION

Given the growing shortages of highly skilled labour in both advanced and emerging economies and the accelerating

forces of globalisation, economists predict that the global economy will become increasingly dependent on interna-

tionally mobile professionals (United Nations, 2017; World Bank, 2015). In line with this, research on mobility has

flourished over the last four decades (Kraimer, Bolino, & Mead, 2016). This research also reflects changes in how

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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and

reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2019 The Authors Human Resource Management Journal Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Received: 1 July 2017 Revised: 27 September 2018 Accepted: 3 October 2018

DOI: 10.1111/1748-8583.12233

328 Hum Resour Manag J. 2019;29:328–352.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrmj

organisations manage mobility (i.e., introducing a portfolio of assignment types such as flex or commuter assign-

ments) and the increasing number of self‐initiated expatriates (SIEs, individuals who initiate their expatriation without

the help of an organisation). Both trends have brought important research topics to the fore. Despite scholarly prog-

ress in addressing emergent mobility issues, until recently, research had largely overlooked one important group—the

growing number of international skilled migrants (ISMs; Binggeli, Dietz, & Krings, 2013).

ISMs have been defined as migrants with at least a bachelor's degree or equivalent who have moved to work and

live abroad on an indefinite basis (Cerdin, Diné, & Brewster, 2014). Unlike assigned expatriates (AEs), whose organisa-

tions transfer them temporarily to a new country (Tharenou, 2015), ISMs self‐initiate international mobility that entails

higher levels of risk and unpredictability and usually involves significant life transitions (Zikic, Bonache, & Cerdin, 2010).

Their intention to settle for an indefinite period of time distinguishes them from SIEs who usually repatriate within a

decade (Cerdin & Selmer, 2014). As ISMs frequently originate from emerging and developing economies (United

Nations, 2017), they are often treated as “second‐class”employees and are disadvantaged based on their national

origin (Binggeli et al., 2013; Dietz, Joshi, Esses, Hamilton, & Gabarrot, 2015). Compared with AEs and SIEs, ISMs are

also perceived as having lower levels of agency (Guo & Al Ariss, 2015; Hajro, Zilinskaite, & Stahl, 2017).

Despite their growing numbers and economic importance (World Bank, 2015), until recently, human resource

management (HRM) research treated this group of workers as a “forgotten minority”(Binggeli et al., 2013). Scholars

have only just begun to examine the challenges ISMs face, their coping strategies, the factors that influence their

acculturation, and the role of HRM practices and organisational support systems in promoting positive integration

outcomes (Hajro, Zilinskaite, & Stahl, 2017; Zikic, 2015).

In light of these limitations, our focus is on reviewing existing research on ISMs and knowledge generated in adja-

cent literatures—particularly research on AEs and SIEs—to develop an integrative framework that illuminates how

variables at multiple levels (individual, organisational, and societal) influence ISM acculturation and coping and the

resulting integration‐related outcomes in the workplace/career and personal/family life domains. By highlighting

cross‐level linkages, underlying mechanisms, and situational contingencies, we aim to bridge the micro–macro divide

in the literature on ISMs.

Our article makes three noteworthy contributions. First, we go beyond previous reviews of international mobility

that either focus on expatriate adjustment (Bhaskar‐Shrinivas, Harrison, Shaffer, & Luk, 2005; Takeuchi, 2010) and

HRM‐related issues (e.g., Littrell, Salas, Hess, Paley, & Riedel, 2006) or compare different forms of global work

experience through a career lens (Shaffer, Kraimer, Chen, & Bolino, 2012). Second, because research on ISMs is still

nascent, we elaborate on the extent to which knowledge generated in the fields of AEs and SIEs can be meaningfully

applied to aid our understanding of ISMs. We identify areas of overlap and distinction and derive future research

implications. Third, we develop a unifying, multilevel framework that extends our understanding of the antecedents,

coping and acculturation processes, and outcomes of ISMs. We propose new theoretical insights based on the

findings emerging from our review and highlight underresearched topics within the literature on ISMs.

In the sections that follow, we first describe our method. We then provide an overview of how ISMs differ from

other types of global workers in terms of six core dimensions: geographic origin and destination; time horizon; moti-

vation and personal agency, vulnerability, status, and power; organisational support; and commonly studiedoutcomes

(see Table 1). This is followed by an overview of the individual‐, organisational‐, and societal‐level factors that influ-

ence ISMs' acculturation dynamics and coping efforts and subsequently their integration success. For each set of

antecedent factors, we discuss: (a) existing theoretical and empirical work on ISMs and (b) what can be learned from

research on other types of global workers. In the last section, we present our integrative multilevel framework as

means of guiding future research and practice.

2|METHOD

To identify as many articles as possible to include in our review, we first searched various databases (e.g., ABI‐

INFORM, Business Source Premier, and Google Scholar) by using the general terms migrants, qualified migrants,

HAJRO ET AL.329