Learning from each other: engaging engineering students through their cultural capital

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flags representing students’ nationalities in 2010

Figure 2 “Thanks”, class 2010

Table 1 Group’s formation 2010

Student composition and backgrounds
292	students
46%	international students
37	countries
39	different languages spoken in the classroom

Table 2 Kluckhohn-Strodtbeck Cross Cultural Framework analysis

Values	Domination	Harmony	Subjugation
Relationship to nature	Brunei, France, Kenya, Singapore, Sri Lanka, UK, USA	Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Finland, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Portugal, Spain / Basque Country	Hong Kong SAR/PRC China
	Past	Present		Future
Time orientation	Botswana, Iran	Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR/PRC China, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Portugal, Spain / Basque Country, Sri Lanka, UK, USA	South Africa	Australia, India, Singapore
	Being		Doing		Controlling
Activity orientation	Finland, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Portugal	India	Bangladesh, Botswana, China, France, Malaysia, Oman, South Africa, Spain / Basque Country, Sri Lanka, UK, USA	Australia, Iran	Brunei, Germany, Singapore
	Good		Evil		Mixed
Nature of people	Australia, China, Finland, Mexico, Oman, Portugal, Singapore	Iran			Bangladesh, Botswana, Brunei, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, UK, USA
	Individualist		Group		Hierarchical
Relationships among people	China, Finland, France, Germany, Kenya, Singapore, UK, USA	Spain / Basque Country	Australia, Brunei, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Portugal, Sri Lanka		Bangladesh, Botswana, Iran, Japan

Key:

Bold : over 5 students in sample (note: countries not in bold could be represented by one answer)

Underlined: indicates that students’ perception of those cultures does not reflect the norm of those societies.

Table 3 Qualitative analysis of students’ origins and perceptions about what “must be done” and “must not be done” in their society. The results are summarised from a larger number of responses from 2007–2010

Country	Must do	Must not do
Australia	Socialise with workmates	Work too hard causing others to look bad
Bangladesh	Make connections	Be emotional
Botswana	Be respectful of the elders, greet everyone and shake hands. Understand culture and local language	Be ignorant about the laws, regulations, be insensitive to other people
Brunei Darussalam	Offering to treat colleagues during coffee break, etc. Respect elder people, understand the locals	Not to disrespect those who are not involved in the project and not show arrogance in presence of senior staff
China	Aims, goals, arguments in meetings, toast in dinner, respect the elders and treat people politely	Do not forget to take the plan to a meeting, refuse to have dinner with leader/boss
Cyprus	Have a broad range of associates. Have strong relationships with others	Have a strong opinion/talk your mind
Czech Republic	Know people with influences	Be west orientated
Finland	Drink vodka, be modest	Get too drunk and be arrogant
France	Communicate well and turn up on time	Being late
Germany	Punctual, hardworking, precise, accuracy	Be rude, blame us because of our past, be lazy
Gibraltar	Invite guests for lunch/dinner
Greece	Give your hand and look friendly and happy
Hong Kong SAR/PRC China	Be on time, work hard, invite colleagues to dinner and serve roast pork	Work during public holidays, be lazy or go to temple without providing donation
India	Bribe, make political connections, have patience	Do not play with cultural values, be racist or show disrespect to religious values
Indonesia	Respect people older than you and be polite	Don’t ignore people
Iran	Respect older and senior, shake hands, have long lunch breaks. Keep very down to earth, show extra respect to women but no body contact	Do not blow your nose in front of other people. Show interest towards illegal habits
Isle of Man (The)	Understand the “what will be, will be” approach to life and slightly slower pace of life.	Upset the local community
Italy	Be successful and prepared for the project	Not be a beginner
Japan	Greetings, bowing. Introduce yourself properly at first time, exchange business cards	Being rude to others
Kazakhstan	Be friendly and have your own opinion	Run out of time and annoy government and administration
Kenya	Be powerful and have good links to government officials	Be lenient with team; or let government interfere with finance
Kuwait	Socialise and get to know your team mates as that is really appreciated and people love it	Never leave without drinking tea/coffee offered to you
Latvia	Shake hands when you meet someone and when you say goodbye	Be late
Libya	Always tell your boss you’re the best	Don’t be too successful too openly
Malaysia	Be modest and friendly, accept bribes, co-operate, create close networks, invite people to your home	Do not do physical interaction with opposite sexes, do not mistreat workers, be rude or disrespect cultures and religion, be racist or lazy
Mexico	Make friends and ask about personal things	Put pressure on people — a bit of encouragement and it will be done
Morocco	It doesn’t hurt to have acquaintances	Don’t be too authoritative with employees
Nigeria	Have friends in high places	Offer bribes
Norway	Greet people properly	Be late
Oman	Make good relations with people, respect religion and culture	Disobey senior orders, have a lone life, criticise religion or culture
Pakistan	Be honest and smile, Respect others’ personal space	Be arrogant or insulting
Portugal	Be friendly and give your employees good food	Never be bossy or arrogant
Qatar	Project a strong personality, respect culture	Be weak or bribe anyone
Romania	Be hardworking. Be very persuasive. Shake hands with people you know, go to their home if invited, be honest and helpful	Not have a bad relationship with work colleagues. Don’t talk behind their back, don’t take into account stereotypes
Singapore	Good proposal and sufficient capital	Ignore the personal relationships in the society
South Africa	Be motivated — encourage others to work to a single goal, treat all people as individuals	Be dominant — by imposing your will on others
South Korea	Network, develop relationships with people and treat business partners with meals	Only focus on your own work, help out others/do not look into olders’ eyes directly
Spain	Be honest and smile, respect others’ personal space	Arrange an informal leisure meeting. Finish a project before the deadline
Spain/Basque Country	One must be pleasant with workers and be concerned about their social life (organising diaries, parties, go out with them, etc)	Ask how much money people earn or be impatient (lateness is accepted). Never be selfish
Sri Lanka	Should have the right contacts especially with government organisation	Better not expect cold weather
UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland)	Abide by the laws, be a good leader, be adaptable, confident and efficient, organised, prepared and punctual, communicate well and make profit. Show wide cultural knowledge. Understanding of differences in native UK cultures is important	Never be rude, complain, controversial, set in your ways, discriminative, late, antisocial, work less than others, stuck in the past
United States of America	Be open-minded to ideas and stay on task. Get it done on time	Take over a group project and implement only your main ideas

Table 4 Summary of unsolicited feedback, 2010

Comments	Out of 29	Quotes
Enjoyed the lecture	29/29	‘it’s one of the best lectures I have had since being at university’, ‘intriguing’, ‘it was great’, ‘loved it’, ‘it was very enlightening’
Informative/useful lecture, learnt about the topic	22/29	‘lot of things which I have been struggling to grasp have been put into perspective’, ‘it highlighted some very important issues for both working in different countries and how to interact with people from other countries’
Enjoyed the anecdotes and stories	16/29	‘you gave clear examples of each point that relates to real life, and mostly from your own experience. They were so interesting’, ‘your anecdotes were not only interesting and amusing but full of wisdom’, ‘refreshing to hear real life examples’
Lecture went fast	3/29	‘it got to the stage where I was losing track of time’, ‘a two hour lecture can often feel like three, but you succeeded in making it feel shorter - well done!’
Resonated with me	3/29	‘you talked about things which I feel identified with (being an Erasmus student)’, ‘this theme was very close to my present situation’

Table 5 Unsolicited feedback on the peer guide, 2010

Comments	Out of 10	Quotes
Informative/useful	7/10	‘very useful and unique’, ‘extremely useful’
Helps improve “international” skills	6/10	‘not only for my future as a engineer, but for today as an international student living in a very international city’
Helps me be more employable	6/10	‘you will stand out from the crowd’