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November 18, 2005
Hoftstede Research on Cultural Differences in the Workplace
Hofstead analyzed cultural value systems in matched samples of employees of multi-national businesses in more than 40 countries. He identified four dimensions, defined as follows: (I found the reference to this work in Bandura's Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies, p. 151 ff.)
- Individualism / Collectivism
- Power distance
- Uncertainty avoidance
- Masculinity/Femininity
The first concerns looking out after one's own interest, alone, vs. adherence to group loyalty with the benefit of group protection. Power distance is the degree to which authority figures keep distance and accept large differences in power. In power dominant cultures, the teacher is a distant figure. Uncertainty avoidance involves the degree to which people are stressed by new, unstructured, and unpredictable situations. The fourth dimension concerns the degree of difference expected between men and women.
I think this work is important and that it explains some of what happens in my class. For example, my experience working in entrepreneurial settings in the U.S. causes me to act as it's everyone for him/herself and no one is going to take care of you. I'm sure I project that attitude onto my class and some of my behavior statements must seem very strange to students from more collective-oriented cultures.
Has anyone else experienced these issues?
I wonder what it's like to be a professor from an Asian country teaching students from the United States? That must seem very strange. Is anyone willing to share thoughts on this issue? Or, in raising this question, and I just evidencing my true lack of understanding of cultural differences? By some cultural values, is it rude or embarrassing for me to raise this question in a public forum? Can anyone help?
Posted by DavidK at November 18, 2005 02:32 PM | Permalink