Culture shock for Polish Professionals in the British environment (Study by Monika Lupa)

Chapter III: The examination of the significance of culture shock in the group of Polish

professionals entering British business environment

3.1 Research methodology and procedure

The aim of this study was to examine the phenomenon of culture shock and propose

some recommendations for a Polish professional who would be thinking about coming to live

and work in the UK. The main objectives of the study were to: (1) determine to what extent

Polish professionals in Britain experience culture shock; (2) examine the factors and barriers

influencing the adaptation process; (3) investigate the cultural differences between Poland and

the United Kingdom; (4) identify pieces of advice related to dealing with cultural shock; (5)

compare the results of the study with the views presented in the literature.

In order to meet the objectives the quantitative research method in a form of a survey

was employed. The survey contained also some open-ended questions and allowed for

providing additional comments. The survey was created by means of Survey Monkey - online

survey generator. Then, the link was generated and sent off to the respondents through social

media, namely, Facebook and LinkedIn, and Internet forums. The target group for the survey

included members of networking organizations specifically Polish Professionals in London,

Polish Professionals Forum, Polish Business Link, Polish Sabbath and others individuals -

highly educated specialists from various fields as well self-employed specialists and business

owners.

The survey was conducted from 10th

of February until 10th

of March 2014. The

description of the results was in most cases presented graphically for better readability. The

survey questionnaires appears in appendix 2.

3.2 Data analysis

As far as respondent characteristics is concerned, 103 people took part in a survey: 43

males and 57 females, 3 people skipped the question about the sex. The age of the

respondents ranged from 21 to 40 years (with one respondent of 57 years old) with an average

age of 32 years old. The majority of the respondents (42) were never married, 32 were

married, 18 were living together, 4 were divorced or separated and 1 widowed. The

considerable number of survey participants chose London as their place of residence (29).

Another notable places included Edinburgh (8) , Glasgow (5), Bristol (4), Manchester (4).

Many respondents wrote simply UK or Scotland as their place of residence.

Educational background of the respondents

Figure 6. Survey question 1. Source: own elaboration

The first question of the survey concerned the educational background of the

respondents before their coming over to the UK. The respondents were allowed to choose

only one answer. As shown in figure 6, the majority of the respondents attained higher level

of education: 55% had master degree, 24% possessed bachelor degree, 4% graduated from

polytechnic and 2% got a PhD degree. 14% of the survey participants declared graduation

from secondary school and only 1% from primary school. Some additional responses

provided by the respondents included: College of further education; I came as part of

Erasmus programme to finish off my BA, First year of university, Technical college.

English proficiency before coming over to the UK


The respondents were further asked about their English proficiency before the arrival

to the UK. They were allowed to choose only one answer. As may be seen from the figure 7,

the percentage of the all responses is quite similar. According to the survey, 23% of the

respondents declared to be fluent in English before their coming over to the UK. The same

percentage of people (23%) claimed the advanced command of English, followed by a 22% of

a respondents with intermediate level and 16% with upper-intermediate level. Only 10%

selected lower-intermediate and 7% declared to be beginners in terms of English before their

coming over to the UK. The results for English proficiency correspond to the results for

educational background. Well-educated survey participants identified themselves with a good

knowledge of English even before their arrival to the UK.

English proficiency at the moment


The next question concerned the fact how the level of English changed after the time

spent in the UK. The respondents were asked to choose only one answer. The data from the

survey proved that a large majority of the respondents has improved their language

proficiency considerably after the time spent in UK. At the time of the study, 74% of the

respondents claimed to be fluent in English and 21% of the people described their level of

English as advanced. Only 3% assessed their level of English as intermediate and 2% as

upper-intermediate. ‘Beginner’ or ‘lower intermediate’ were not chosen by any number of the

respondents.

Duration of stay in the UK


The respondents were further asked about their duration of stay in the UK. Here, they

were allowed to choose only one answer. As can be seen from the figure above,

the considerable number of respondents (63%) declared their duration of stay in the UK as

more than 5 years. 24% and 7% have been living in the UK for 3-5 years and 1-2 years

respectively. Only 3% of the survey participants admitted to reside the UK for 6 months-one

year and the same percentage of the respondents (3%) for less than 6 months.

Sector of occupation in Britain


The next question concerned respondents’ current sector of occupation. They were

allowed to choose only one answer. The respondents had a wide range of options from which

to choose, namely, accountancy and finance, banking and investment, business and

management, education, engineering, health and social care, IT and Information Services,

law, marketing and sales, media and publishing, property and construction, recruitment and

HR, science and pharmaceuticals. As shown in figure 10, all choices were selected at least

three times. The respondents concentrated mainly on financial and business services as

greatest number of respondents revealed their sector of occupation was business and

management (22%), followed by accountancy and finance (13%) and banking and investment

(10%).

Reasons for immigrating to the UK


The respondents were also asked to select their main reasons for immigrating to the

UK. Stating up to 3 answers was possible. The question listed seven potential reasons for

immigration: a) I couldn’t find work in Poland; b) prospects of higher income; c) career

opportunities; d) I didn’t like living in Poland; e) I felt I needed some change; f) family

reasons; g) educational reasons.

Although financial reasons were among the most often selected answers on this

question (49%), a considerable number of the respondents referred to career opportunities

(54%) and desire for change (33%) as their main motives for migration. The least selected

options were family reasons (15%) and lack of the employment in the home country (11%).

The respondents provided also some additional answers such as: Gaining experience of living

and working outside the home country; Result of extended summer work trip; Far better

tolerance level in British society; Business opportunities; Cultural curiosity; Cultural

reasons: I did not quite fit in in Poland; Personal reasons.

The present data corroborates the statement of Jan Maciejewski (2012),

as mentioned in the theoretical part, about “new immigrants” after 2004 and their goals and

reasons for immigration. It can therefore be stated that Poles who came to Britain after 2004

give high priority to personal and professional development.

Stereotypes about Britain


When the respondents were asked whether they held many stereotypes about Britain

and the British before living and working in the UK, 47% agreed and 1% strongly agreed, as

shown in figure 7. 30% neither agreed or disagreed, 10% disagreed and 11% strongly

disagreed with this particular statement.

Examples of the stereotypes about English

Figure 13. Survey question 8- Examples of the stereotypes

Subsequently, the survey participants were to choose up to three examples of the

stereotypes related particularly to English people. The respondents were provided with

following examples of the stereotypes: a) English people always say ‘sorry’; b) English

people have tea at 5 o’clock; c) English people are reserved and serious; d) English people are

posh and snobbish; e) English people have a hard time talking about personal matters; f)

English people enjoy queuing; g) English people have specific sense of humour.

Figure 8 shows that the respondents selected the most frequently such examples as: English

people have specific sense of humour (67%), English people are reserved and serious (54%),

English people have tea at 5 o’clock (44%). Some additional responses were also provided:

Direct and sincere feedback is very hard to get; Brits always say they are happy with the

results.

Change in view of the stereotypes


Accordingly, 41% of the respondents agreed and nearly 6% strongly agreed that their

view of those stereotypes changed since they have been living and working in Britain as

presented in figure 14. However, 22% disagreed and nearly 6% strongly disagreed with the

statement. Additionally, 23% neither agreed or disagreed.

Living in the UK is different than living in Poland


In this questions, the respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with

the statement provided. The majority of respondents agreed (50%) or strongly agreed (43%)

that living in the UK is different than living in Poland. 7% of the respondent neither agreed or

disagreed. ‘Disagree or strongly disagree’ was not chosen by any number of the respondents.

Cultural differences in living in the UK


The next question concerned the cultural differences between Poland and the UK.

Figure 16 shows that the majority of the respondents (77%) reported arranging official matters

as the main difference. The next apparent differences included going out (52%) and running

household (31%). Some additional responses of the survey participants were as follows:

British people are significantly less conservative and less religious than Poles. In a wake of

that LGBT community enjoys equal rights and women have right to abortion; In UK there is

very different approach to life – more empowered to make a change; Existence of hidden

racism; Respecting law and order; People are more open-minded and don't criticize others as

much as they do in Poland.

These results are consistent with Hofstede’s dimensions which were applied in

theoretical part to Poland and United Kingdom. Additional comments of the respondents

support the idea of low power distance index in the UK vs. relatively high power distance in

Poland and considerable differences in uncertainty avoidance index.

Working in Poland vs. working in the UK


In this questions, the respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with

the statement provided: Living in the UK is different than living in Poland. The vast majority

of the respondents agreed (62%) and strongly agreed (25%) with the statement. However, 5%

disagreed and 2% strongly disagreed, while 6% neither agreed or disagreed with it.

Cultural differences in working in the UK


When asked about the differences in terms of work & business, most of the

respondents noted: communication style (66%), business etiquette (51%) and level of

formality (37%). Respondents provided also some additional comments: [In Britain]It is

much easier to start and work as self-employed. National Insurance Contributions are much

lower; It's easier to set up and run a company; There is safe system of work; In UK you are

valued for your skills, for being a team player, for your personality; in Poland you are valued

for your degrees, diplomas and who you know; Existence of short red tape in Poland, People

are more open-minded and less noisy than in Poland; Work culture is different.

Culture shock


The survey participants were asked whether they experienced culture shock when they

started to live and work in the UK. The most striking result to emerge from the data provided

is that merely 35 % of the respondents agreed and 5% of them strongly agreed that they

actually did experience culture shock, whereas 25% neither agreed or disagreed, as presented

in figure 14. In contrast, 23% disagreed and 12% strongly disagreed about the occurrence of

the culture shock in their personal and work life. These results seem to be inconsistent with

the literature which considers the phenomenon of the culture shock as an inevitable part of

the foreign encounter.

Culture shock feelings


Survey participants were also asked about their feelings associated with culture shock.

They were allowed to choose up to three answers. As shown in figure 20, the most frequently

chosen words were uncertainty (48%), homesickness (46%), and surprise (42%). Anxiety was

chosen by merely 27% of the respondents what calls into question the overall established

view of culture shock, proposed by Kalervo Oberg (1954), which holds that culture shock is

primarily anxiety-oriented. The least chosen responses were confusion (17%) and frustration

(13%). The respondents provided also some additional responses such as: curiosity,

excitement. positive surprise and happiness. 14 respondents reported that none of above-

mentioned feelings relate to them.

Culture shock stages


The next question regarded the stages of culture shock currently experienced by the

respondents. The respondents were provided with following options: a) Honeymoon or tourist

stage. During this phase the differences between the two cultures appear exciting to you ;

b) Disorientation stage. During this phase, you start experiencing culture-related problems

and you find them bothering ; (c) Recovery stage, during which you develop effective

problem solving skills that enable you to function better in the new culture. (d) Adjustment

stage – you adapt to living in the new environment by developing new habits and routines.

When asked about the phase of the culture shock currently experienced, 47% of the

respondents declared to be at the stage of adjustment, 15% pass the recovery stage and 5%

experience honeymoon stage. Over one third of all respondents (32%) said that none of

above-mentioned stages apply to them.

Culture shock factors

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total Average

Ranking

cultural

distance

12.37%

12

19.59%

19

7.22%

7 12.37%

12

12.37%

12

14.43%

14

21.65%

21

97 3.77

individual

traits

14.43%

14 29.90%

29

11.34%

11

14.43%

14

14.43%

14

11.34%

11

4.12

4

97 4.65

host attitudes

and

perceptions

6.19%

6

14.43%

14 31.96%

31

24.74%

24

8.25%

8

9.28%

9

5.15%

5

97 4.37

social support 5.15%

5

7.22%

7

13.40%

13

20.62%

20

13.40%

13 16.49%

16

23.71%

23

97 3.26

motivation 7.22%

7

9.28%

9

13.40%

13

17.53%

17 26.80%

26

16.49%

16

9.28%

9

97 3.66

previous

experience

5.15%

5

7.22%

7

14.43%

14

5.15%

5

15.46%

15

24.74%

24 27.84%

27

97 2.96

foreign

language 49.48%

48

12.37%

12

8.25%

8

5.15%

5

9.28%

9

7.22%

7

8.25%

8

97 5.33


In question 17, the respondents were asked to rate the importance of different factors

which influence the process of adaptation to a foreign culture. It is apparent from the ranking

presented in figure 22 that the most important factor, identified by approximately half of the

respondents, was foreign language. Based on the number of respondents, the next four most

important factors influencing the process of adaptation to a foreign culture were: individual

traits, host attitudes and perceptions, cultural distance and motivation. The least important

determinants identified by the respondents included social support and previous experience.

Barriers to cross cultural communication and relations


When asked about the barriers to cross cultural communication and relations, the

respondents enumerated language (33%) as well as beliefs, values and attitudes (29%) as the

most challenging ones. These barriers were followed by misinterpretations/stereotypes (20%)

and stress resulting from intercultural communication (13%). Non-verbal communication was

noted by only 5% of the respondents.

Return to Poland


The respondents were asked whether they are planning to return to Poland. About 37%

of the respondents were not sure, while 31% said ‘no’. Only 11% declared their willingness to

return to the home country.

Question 20 was an open-ended. Here, the respondents were asked to provide 3 pieces

of advice (based on their experience) related to avoiding suffering from culture shock. The

answers provided by the respondents have been arranged into the themes and modified at

times to facilitate comprehension.

Language

Learn fluent English

Work on your accent

Develop your communication skills

Observe and listen carefully to the native speakers

Do not afraid to speak

Watch TV, listen to radio, read press in English

Try to think like an Englishman

Behaviour

Believe in yourself, your own capabilities and potential

Be open-minded and open to new experiences

Keep a positive attitude and be ready for new challenges

Be determined to reach your goals

Be professional and honest

Do not stereotype

Smile as the sense of humour is really valued in Britain

Never be direct, always add ‘please’

Respect law and order

Respect people with different beliefs, sexual orientation or colour of the skin

Have work ethic

Do not sell yourself short

Reject racism and intolerance

Think like a child: learn with no expectations, live the moment

Do not complain

Be patient; give yourself time to adapt

Value your time

Go with the flow

Treat others like you wish to be treated

Develop professionally; take part in courses, volunteering

If you are good at your job, no one will care that you are Polish or any other

nationality

Interactions:

Do not isolate from the foreign environment

Integrate with the local community

Try to socialize; make friends with the local people

Try to join social groups

Do not close into ‘Polish ghetto’

Do not be afraid to ask your British colleagues for advice

Keep in touch with your family and friends back home

Talk to other emigrants

Try to meet new people who can help you with your career

Find a mentor or a person who can guide you through your career

Seek to create a mixed circle of friends

Pre-departure

Do the research before you come to the UK

Have a realistic plan

Do not create high expectations at the beginning

Be prepared to be surprised or shocked

Come to the UK for internship or seasonal work to test how you like it

Talk to someone who already lives in a country

Decide what you want to do and how you are going to achieve this

Get to know the host culture and social behaviors

Familiarize with the employment law and rights of the employee

Speak to other Polish people on forums to find out what is it like to live in UK

Cultural differences

Learn customs

Be aware of the cultural differences and sensitivities

Get to know the host culture and social behaviors

Do not worry about first few blunders you will inevitably make

Do not compare by saying; ‘We do things differently’

Do not assume that the Polish way of doing things is superior

Leave ‘Polish messianism’ behind

Do not give up your cultural background

Learn from the natives; do not try to change them

Accept that foreigners are different

Listen, observe, experience the foreign culture

Be prepared to be more relaxed and less ‘down to the point’ – what is straightforward

business language in Poland, comes off as rude in the UK–and what is polite can be

seen as overly official

You will never fit in, maybe your children or grandchildren do, but you will be lost

generation

Practicality

Consider the cost of living

Have enough money to start with

Consider further education

In the final part of the survey, the respondents were provided with the opportunity to

add some additional comments related to the topic of the survey. Some of the comments

included:

Before I came to Scotland in 2004 I had heard the terminology "culture shock" but I did not appreciate

the true meaning of it, until I settled in Glasgow. I could not believe that drivers can be so polite and

always give way to others. When I started doing this from time to time when I would visit my family

back in Poland, Polish drivers would look at me in disbelief and think that there was something wrong

with me, or just ignore my politeness failing to thank me. The friendliness of Scots is visible not only in

driving. Strangers often smile at me for no particular reason. In Poland, when you smile at someone,

they usually suspect you of having some sort of hidden agenda. Other positive aspects of my culture

shock concern life in general being easier in Scotland than in Poland in terms of better roads, strong

community spirit, well organised and helpful state and local governments. I come to the conclusion that

my culture shock was generally a very positive experience apart from couple exceptions. One concerns

food. The majority of food in Poland is organic. In the UK, you need to pay high premium to get quality

food. Poland is full of local small shops, whereas Scotland seems to be taken over by supermarkets and

chain shops. So called high streets in little towns and villages as well as farmers markets are bound for

extinction, while they remain to thrive in Poland. The other exception concerns general lack of

understanding of Polish culture in British workplace. My British colleagues always complain that Poles

speak fast, direct and sometimes appear to be aggressive and argumentative. To me, this is just how

Poles are brought up by the Polish system. If you want to say something, you just do it. In Poland you

do not cover it with polite phrases that make your communication long and hide the true sense. Your

comments are short, dry and to the point, while in Scotland, it is much longer, very polite, sometimes

vague due to too many words. So this is one thing I had to learn the hard way at work - adopt British

way of communicating both orally and in writing and even after 10 years of living in the UK, I find it

hard not to offend oversensitive Brits.

I had prepared myself for foreign encounter before I came to London. I did some extensive research

about British and their culture and set realistic expectations – these steps helped me to turn culture

shock into a truly positive experience

I find previous experience and knowing the language vital; I first came to the UK in 2005 and had a

terribly hard time adjusting to the English way of life, so much so that I returned to Poland the next

year and finished my studies in Warsaw . During and after my studies, however, I lived abroad in a few

more countries, including places in North America, and when I returned to the UK for the second time,

in 2011, I suddenly discovered I had no trouble adjusting, I picked up on the subtle differences in verbal

and non-verbal communication very quickly; I found England a lot more similar to Poland than the US

but realized that it also had those qualities which I appreciate about Anglo-Saxon culture (a certain

lack of formality and a friendly politeness in everyday interactions) and ended up feeling much more at

ease in London than I do in Poland these days.

In UK your skills, knowledge and attitude, being a team player and change maker are more important

than in Poland. In Poland the biggest value is placed on diplomas, certificates etc. (aka PAPERS!) and

who you know in UK hierarchy in a work place almost doesn't exist; in Poland hierarchy is very strong

etc.

The biggest culture shock was not from the local populace but from people deeply situated in their

former significantly different culture

I did not have any prejudice against British people before coming to the UK. However I did experience

a lot of negative attitudes towards me. Especially this is visible in business. Being a successful w

woman and a foreigner is not always easy.

3.3 Research results and implications

The study shows that majority of Polish Professionals in Britain constitutes highly

educated specialists from various fields in their thirties who have been residing the biggest

cities in the UK (including London and Edinburgh). They are characterized by English

fluency and concentrated on their personal and career development.

Contrary to the expectations, merely 40% of the respondents agreed that they experienced

culture shock at the beginning of their stay in the UK. Over one third of Polish professionals

did not find it applicable to their personal experience and a one quarter neither agreed or

disagreed whether they experienced it. A possible explanation for this might be the lack of the

adequate name for culture shock. The term generates merely negative connotations (e.g.

crisis, alienation, state of anxiety, depression, stress, shock) and it is frequently associated

with the ‘disease model’ overused in the previous literature, as mentioned in the theoretical

part. However, as study shows only 27% of the respondents linked culture shock with anxiety

and 13% identified it with frustration. It is interesting to note that the considerable number of

the Poles participating in the study associated culture shock with the positive feelings such as

surprise, curiosity, excitement and happiness manifesting thus the ‘growth model’ of culture

shock. There are, however, other possible explanations for these results. The degree to which

culture shock occurs depends on a variety of factors. The most considerable ones, as pointed

out by the respondents of the survey, constitute foreign language fluency and individual traits

(e.g. age, resourcefulness, independence, determination). Thus, it may be that some Polish

professionals in Britain did not experience culture shock or did experience it only to some

degree due to their education, high English language proficiency and individual traits. It may

also be explained by differences between Polish and British cultures. The study shows that

Polish professionals in Britain find many aspects of the British culture and business culture as

more favourable comparing to home country. As some of the survey respondents point out:

“People in Britain are less conservative and more open-minded” ; “In Britain it’s easier to set

up and run a company” etc. For this reason, as it may be inferred, Polish professionals

experienced little culture shock or are unaware of its occurrence.

As regards stages of culture shock, it is worth pointing out that one third of the survey

respondents did not identify themselves with any stage provided. It may indicate that the large

number of the respondents did not follow the predictable order of culture adaptation proposed

i.a. by Karl Oberg but rather experienced it individually at different rates. This finding seems

to be consistent with Pedersen theory which states that, “Culture shock is a profoundly

personal experience. It does not affect all people in the same way

or even the same person in the same way when it reoccurs” (Pedersen 1995, VII).

As the study shows, Polish professionals in Britain may face many challenges while

entering British environment. However, they enumerated various pieces of advice on how to

cope in British environment. The respondents were rather optimistic about living and working

in Britain and concentrated specifically on such issues as: English fluency, socialisation with

host culture members, openness to new experiences and familiarisation with new culture.

Conclusions

This paper examines the phenomenon of culture shock from the perspective of its

possible impact on Polish professionals in Britain who entered the country in and after 2004.

The study set out to analyze the role of culture shock and to compare business cultures in

Poland and Britain in order to reveal their relation to nowadays’ cross-cultural experiences.

The theoretical part of this paper was designed to provide a background to culture shock and

other related concepts, whereas the practical part aimed to form recommendations on dealing

with culture shock for Polish professionals who consider living and working in Britain.

The study confirms the hypothesis that both the ‘disease model’ and the ‘growth

model’ should be applied in developing strategies for coping with culture shock, and that

these models ought not to be considered separately, but rather as a combination of their

specific features. Undoubtedly, culture shock may be connected with stress and uncertainty

arising from the unknown, however, it may also serve as a positive factor in cross cultural

adaptation. The previous literature tried to simplify the course of the culture shock by

presenting it as linear and ordered, nevertheless, the process seems to be more complex and

each individual may experience it differently. As far as the target group of the study is

concerned, it may be stated that such factors as age, individual traits, education, English

language proficiency and, primarily, the favorable British work culture contribute to Polish

professionals in Britain experiencing little culture shock and adapting to the foreign culture

successfully. The most significant differences between both cultures in question include: high

uncertainty avoidance index in Poland vs. low uncertainty index in Britain, excessive

politeness of the British vs. straightforwardness of Poles; normative and self-contained culture

in Poland vs indulgent and quite pragmatic culture in Britain. Even though the difference

between the blunt, direct communication style of Poles and the reserved, understated and

indirect communication of the British may constitute the greatest challenge, Poles fit in well

into the polite and well-ordered British culture.

Moreover, one of the aims of the research was to provide advice for Polish

professionals entering British culture. The most interesting outcomes include, “Do not isolate

yourself in the Polish minority” ; “Quit comparing both cultures by saying: ‘We do things

differently’”; “Drop the messianistic ideas of Poland” ; “Prepare to be surprised or shocked” ;

“Be patient, give yourself time to adapt” ; “Create no high expectations at the beginning”.

Despite the high response rate, the most important limitation of the study lies in its

quantitative nature. Although the survey contains several open ended questions and allows

for additional comments, it does not concentrate on an individual experience. Thus, it may be

stated that the qualitative comments are the source of the most important data and that at this

point interviews or case studies would prove more effective.

It may be stated that more research is needed to allow better understanding of the

nature of culture shock in British environment as well as its negative and most importantly

positive consequences. It would be interesting to compare the experiences of individuals

within the same target group.

Career

Culture shock for Polish Professionals in the British environment (Study by Monika Lupa)