LUBS 5259-5261 2011-12 Week 8 Seminar Gender

8/3/2019 LUBS 5259-5261 2011-12 Week 8 Seminar Gender

1/9

MSc International Business

LUBS 5259/5261 Cross-Cultural Management

Seminar Work Week 8 Some issues of Gender

Hofstedes dimension of masculinity/femininity, for all the problems that it presents,

at least invites us to look at sex/gender difference, and how this is differently

configured in different cultures.

This seminar material contains some numbers, graphs and charts, which give us some

insight into how sex/gender differences are the same, and/or vary, across cultures.

World Values Survey Questions

First, are six charts from the World Values Survey website. This website provides a

wealth of interesting information, particularly relating to questions about importantsocial issues. It allows you to create charts using your own choice of questions and

countries. Here, a variety of countries has been chosen to illustrate levels of

agreement or disagreement with six statements concerning sex/gender issues. The six

statements represented here are:

1. Men make better political leaders than women do

2. University is more important for a boy than a girl

3. A working mother has an equally strong relationship to her family as a full-

time mother

4. Being a housewife is just as fulfilling as having a career

5. Jobs scarce: men should have more right to a job than women

6. (This one is nothing to do with the seminar subject, but its interesting

anyway) Jobs scarce: employers should give priority to (nation) people

rather than immigrants

There are some big differences between how people from different countries answerthese questions. The position of countries on Hofstedes dimension of

masculinity/femininity is surprisingly unhelpful in explaining these. Do the

differences make sense of your own understanding and experience? Do you think the

picture can or should change?

1


2/9

2


3/9

3


4/9

4


5/9

UNESCO Figures on Gender Differences in University Graduates by field of

study

The next three charts give figures for OECD countries, showing the proportions of

males and females graduating in three different areas of study. The three different

areas are:

Humanities, Arts and Education

Mathematics and Computing

Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction

5


6/9

6


7/9

7


8/9

8


9/9

Born or made? Are the differences between men and women hardwired, or

optional software?

The World Values Survey responses show some big differences between countries inthe way in which questions about sex/gender are answered (and enacted). Perhaps we

might want to say that these differences are cultural?

The OECD figures on gender difference in university graduates seem to be telling a

somewhat different story. Certainly, there are some interesting differences between

countries, and again we can invoke cultural difference to explain these. There are

also, however, some remarkable consistencies, across different countries, in the

patterns in which males and females choose their subjects for university study. Are

these about culturally conditioned decisions, or are they about something else?

There is probably enough in the above material to keep you arguing for years.However, if you need further structure, here are some questions:

1) Are the differences between men and women hardwired, or optional

software?

2) Where is your country in this, and where is it going?

3) Where are you in this, and where are you going?

4) The Economistonce said, there is an old saying: If you want to make your

country wealthy, build roads and bridges; the Economistthen added: And

use them to drive girls to school. Do you agree with this?

5) Bradford, a city near Leeds (where Malcolm Chapman lives), has a large

Asian population. The Asian is put in inverted commas, because the

designation is problematic. In the Bradford context, it means immigrants from

Pakistan (particularly from Mirpur), and their UK born children and

grandchildren. Calling people who are born in the UK Asians might seem

strange, but it is common usage. The Asian community in Bradford is in

general Muslim. Five years ago, it was very rare to see a woman in Bradfordwearing a full face veil. Now, it is very common. What of convergence and

divergence, in this context?

9

Documents

LUBS 5259-5261 2011-12 Week 8 Seminar Gender