Cultural dimension
CULTURAL DIMENSIONS 02/2/2024
Choose two cultural dimensions (either from Hofstede’s model or the CARLA map) that we studied. What are your reactions to those dimensions? How might those dimensions be a challenge or surprise, if at all, for you or others while you are in U.S. culture? If you want to compare how that dimension may differ for U.S. culture, you can search for the U.S. scores on Hofstede’s website.
As an international student from Ghana and my first time experiencing the US culture two cultural dimensions sparked my attention and might be challenging while living here.
One of them is Individualism vs collectivism. From Hofstede’s website Ghana scored a very low score of 9 under individualism compared to the United States which scored 60. Hofstede characterized collectiveness as a cultural trait where individuals are deeply ingrained within tight knit in groups from early childhood. These groups often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) offer unwavering protection and unquestioning loyalty. From this reference, Ghana where I come from and the society, I grew up from is a very collective country. My society fosters strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for their fellow members in the group. This has made me to grow up with a sense of community and belonging in everything that I do but the shift to an individualistic country is both surprising and challenging. Adapting to this environment presents personal expectations and social dynamics challenges. An example is my experience of how group assignments are done in the US. In Ghana, when given group assignments or any group work, all the members are expected to make decisions as to when we are to meet in person and work on the assignments together by sharing any ideas and but not limited to any research that one has found which in line with the work but my experience so far in the US, is quite different. When given any group assignments everyone just does it on their own in their own space and one person decides to submit it. This was quite surprising, and a challenge to me because I have to learn how to balance personal aspirations and maintain meaningful connections with other students from different backgrounds and experiences. But looking at the positive side of this culture in the US, there’s personal freedom, and individuals are often encouraged to pursue their passions and be responsible for their own decisions which I think fosters personal growth and self-discovery. The picture below shows collectiveness vs individualism.
The second cultural dimension in the Hofstede Cultural Dimensions from Mindtools that also surprised me was equality vs hierarchy. In Ghana, one cannot address an elderly person by their first name or even refer to their professors by their first name only because it is considered disrespect, and if one is not lucky and refers to a professor by their name without adding their title, that person can be punished or have a bad relationship with that particular professor which can affect one’s opportunity. Even at home, the elder person decides for the younger siblings, we add brother or sister to an elder person’s name and call any woman mom and any man dad. An example is how I call my elder brother: Bra Akoto and Bra Enock, my younger siblings call me sister Yvonne and I call my aunties Mom and my uncle Dad. It is actually weird to say that in the US. Professors and elder individuals are referred to by their first names. There’s a belief that people should interact with each other on a level playing field. There’s an encouragement to question authority, share opinions, and speak casually thereby improving personal growth, openness, and collaborative engagement without any hierarchy. A typical hierarchy picture of a family in Ghana is showed below.
All these experiences are shaping me to become somebody better in the future with dynamic exploration and experiences.