You moved for your partner's career. What about yours?

You packed up your life, crossed borders, and supported your partner's career move. Your partner is off to a great start. Now you're wondering: what about me?

When Both Careers Matter

A dual-career couple can be defined as two partners in a committed relationship who prioritize their careers as central to their identity and life choices.

We distinguish between dual-earner couples, where both partners work and generate an income, and dual-career couples, which require a psychological commitment to their careers. A dual career does not necessarily mean that both partners are continuously engaged in formal, income-generating work.

My interest lies in dual-career couples who move internationally. 

The International Twist

International moves raise tough questions for dual-career couples. Whether you're relocating within a company (assigned expatriates, AE) or making a move on your own (self-initiated expatriates, SIE), one partner often puts their career on hold. Partners may leave formal work, take on more at home, and adjust to new cultural norms with little support. Dual-career couples don't necessarily move together either: 'lovepats' relocate to join a partner, and split families live in different locations.

The Gender Twist

Although traditional 'male assignee/female partner' roles have changed over the last 20-30 years, with more women accepting an international relocation, more same-sex couples relocating for work, and more people moving to join a partner where they are, data still suggests that an expat partner is often a woman (see, for example, data from The Permits Foundation).

Are you a Dual Career International?

Then you've come to the right place. 

I started my career studying high-mobility corporate expat partners' social identity and role adjustments in Oman. Rough wording, I know: I'm talking about dual-career couples where one partner is sent on assignment within their (global) organization, moving every 2-4 years, often to emerging market locations, and the other partner moves with them. 

This research supported my cand.polit in social anthropology at the University of Bergen. 

At the time, I understood global mobility and the role of expat partners from an academic perspective. Then I resigned from a job I loved in India to join my high-mobility, Shell International-employed geologist husband on a trek across 6 moves in 15 years. That's when I truly understood. Dual careers in a cross-border setting are a joint venture.

I have been involved in expat partner and career support, paid and unpaid, for 20+ years, and collaborated with global as well as local organizations. Repatriating to Norway in 2019, I put my dual career capital to good use: I now support skilled migrants finding relevant roles in Stavanger, Norway, through my work with Sammen om en jobb. 

What to Expect From This Page

With this page, I want to share what I have learned about international dual careers with you. Moving the needle from 'one lead-career, one lead-parent' to 'dual careers, dual parents' in my family unit cost me tears, stress, and a hospital stay. I am forever grateful to the expat partners who were there for me with information, guidance, mentoring, and moral support. If I can pay it forward in any way, I'll be delighted.

Head to the Research and Resources page to read research summaries, book reviews, and thought pieces. If you're only just getting started, begin with this list.

And before you go: this is a side gig. I do this in my spare time, and much as I'd LOVE to spend more time and energy creating resources here, I can't. So it's slow, but it's a work in progress.