Beyond culture shock: entering the complex world of Global South expatriates’ adaptation

This paper aims to review the literature addressing the barriers to integrating Global South expatriates assigned to Western countries. This general review offers a literature-informed conceptual framework articulating the antecedents of issues facing Global South expatriates in relation to adaptation in Western contexts. The data was gathered through rapid literature review and analysed thematically. The analysis indicates that several complex issues impede Global South expatriates’ effective adjustment to host countries deployed in Western countries. These factors include culture distance, ethnic prejudice, social isolation, children and family issues, and homesickness. Such issues can negatively impact the performance of Global South expatriates and their future career prospects. Organisations need to create psychological safety for effective adjustment. This paper is one few to highlight the Global South expatriates’ adaptation issues that are poorly addressed in the literature with reference to Global South expatriates. The expatriate literature is often biased towards Western expatriates, ignoring the situation of psychological insecurity caused by psycho-social factors that hamper Global South expatriates’ integration.