Increasing the chances of career success abroad: the role of cultural orientations in the relationship between international students’ protean career orientation, career competencies and perceived employability

A successful school-to-work transition is a foundation for long-term career success. Yet, in an increasingly globalized world of work, there is still little understanding of this process in the context of international students–skilled migrants whose school-to-work transition may be complicated by the cross-cultural transition. This study aimed to answer the research question: to what extent are international students’ individualism/collectivism and acculturation orientations related to the indirect relationship between a protean career orientation and perceived employability via career competencies? To answer this question, we conducted a quantitative study among 302 international Master’s students in the Netherlands. Our findings showed that having a protean career orientation is related positively to perceived employability via career competencies. Contrary to our expectations, international students’ individualism/collectivism cultural orientation did not moderate this indirect relationship. However, surprisingly, high individualism was negatively associated with career competencies. Regarding acculturation orientations, we found that host culture orientation did not impact the indirect relationship between a protean career orientation and perceived employability, while high home culture orientation strengthened this relationship. Together, these findings show that both career and cultural orientations may play a role in international students’ career competencies development and employability and, thus, their career success abroad.