Career Sustainability Profiles of Self-Initiated Expatriates and Associated Person-Related Factors

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© 2026 The Author(s). Thunderbird International Business Review published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. 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.
The increasingly volatile global working environment poses particular challenges for self-initiated expatriates (SIEs), who often lack formal organizational support and must manage their careers independently. However, research on SIEs has largely focused on single international experiences or specific stages of the expatriation cycle, thereby overlooking the long-term consequences of expatriation on career sustainability. This article complements existing research by adopting a longitudinal perspective building on sustainable career theorizing to examine career sustainability profiles among SIEs and the associated person-related factors. We interviewed 34 SIEs and identified three distinct career sustainability profiles: sustainable, unsustainable, and transitional. Furthermore, we found three main factors associated with profile membership within the person dimension: agency, experienced meaning of work, and global career identity. In addition, our data indicate that such person-related factors evolve through expatriation experiences over time, indicating that career sustainability among SIEs is dynamic. This study contributes to both SIE and sustainable career literature.

Emojulkaisu

ISBN

ISSN

1520-6874
1096-4762

Aihealue

Kausijulkaisu

Thunderbird international business review

OKM-julkaisutyyppi

A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (vertaisarvioitu)