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Only about 20 per cent of the companies said they align diversity goals with programs to help executives move around the world, Clarke said.

“CEOs are worried about the talent pipeline,” he said. “But right in front of them is this tremendous growth experience of global mobility that can transform the career of women, particularly early on. It’s so underutilized.”

Wrong Assumption

The study found that bosses often mistakenly assume that women won’t take on foreign assignments because they have children. In fact, a nearly equal number of executives — 41 per cent of the women and 40 per cent of the men — who said they wanted overseas assignments already were parents, PwC found.

“Is this a real barrier or an assumed barrier?” said Aoife Flood, a senior manager of the PwC global diversity and inclusion office, and a researcher for the study. “Organizations need to really make it clear to all of their populations the types of opportunities that are required for advancement.”

Drawing Cards

Companies also should recognize overseas assignments as drawing cards for future top managers. About 64 per cent of women said that going overseas was both key in attracting them to their employer and a factor in retaining them.

One respondent, Avril O’Flynn, was among the first women that Kerry Group, a Dublin-based food ingredient supplier, sent to Singapore when she relocated in 2013. Since then, several women have followed her example, she said in an interview.

“One of the reasons I did select Kerry was that they did have international opportunity,” said O’Flynn, 34, who is Irish. “It has really helped me to look at our business through a different lens and it certainly provided me with different insights.”