Cultural Dimensions: A Comparative Analysis of Aviation Students in China and the U.S.

Abstract

Verbatim from Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons. Not paraphrased, not summarized.

Research has shown cultural dimensions can provide insight into effective management within diverse work and school environments. (Sandal & Manzey, 2009). In this study, researchers distributed a research questionnaire based on Hofstede’s original four cultural dimensions: power distance, masculinity vs femininity, uncertainty avoidance and individualism vs collectivism. Participants were recruited from two collegiate aviation programs, one in China and the other in the United States. Independent t-tests were used to compare mean cultural dimensions scores for the groups. Study findings suggested significant differences between the two groups for the cultural dimensions: power distance, masculinity vs femininity and individualism vs collectivism. No significant difference was found for the dimension of uncertainty avoidance. Additionally, two open-ended questions were used to further investigate perceptions within the cultural dimensions of uncertainty avoidance and masculinity vs femininity. Similar and contrasting themes were discussed.

Authors

• Keller, Julius Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Wang, Yu Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Cooney, Jacqueline Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Erstad, Anthony Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Lu, Chientsung Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Keywords

• cultural dimensions
• national culture
• collegiate aviation
• Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
• Social and Behavioral Sciences