For Andrea Huggard-Caine, being sent to Italy as part of a team that was handling a Citibank acquisition in the 1980s was life-changing.

“It broadens your vision,” says Ms Huggard-Caine, who was born in Argentina and brought up in Brazil, where she was educated at an American school. “I’m multicultural and speak five languages. But until I actually lived abroad, I did not have it all figured out from a multicultural perspective,” says Ms Huggard-Caine, who now has her own consulting business.

In a corporate setting, an overseas posting can be a way for women to achieve a breakthrough in their careers. More than 80 per cent of the women that Stacie Berdan, an author and consultant, interviewed for her book Get Ahead by Going Abroad said their international posting had helped them secure more senior positions.