An Application of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension among Female Educational Leaders

Abstract

Abstract:With the exponential advancement of technology, global sharing, industrialization and economic development, national and global cultures are becoming more collective. More importantly, this fundamental paradigm shift is affecting national and global educational leadership cultures. Therefore, the power/distance index (PDI); individualism versus collectivism (IDV); uncertainty avoidance index (UAI); masculinity/femininity (MAS); and long-term orientation versus short-term orientation (LTO); are of interest when considering national and global cultures. These cultural dimensions can be exemplified in the responses of eight female educational leaders: three Canadians and one from Jamaica and Trinidad; two Grenadians and one Lebanese. This qualitative methodology in the form of a phenomenological study found that all respondents displayed varying degrees of each aspect of Hofstede's five cultural dimensions which can be charted along a continuum from high to low index factors. Each dimension is linked to different leadership styles. PDI is linked to servant leadership, IDV is linked to shared/participatory leadership, UAI is linked to transformational leadership and emergent leadership, and MAS is linked to people versus task-oriented leadership. In each case, the slight variances in responses reflect the microcosm of the macrocosm where each country's particular culture is mirrored. Recommendations are made for a more androgynous leadership style as well as more androgynous socialization processes if national and global educational leadership cultures are to become less gendered and more instrumental and functional based on the demands of the particular environment. It is expected that a focus could be placed on transcultural rather than intercultural studies in leadership and education.

Gender differences in innovation: the role of ambidextrous leadership of the team leads

“…There may be a solution to these challenging possibilities. Recommendations are offered for (1) decreased focus on intraorganizational gender rivalry (Vasconcelos, 2018); (2) more androgynous leadership along with more androgynous socialization processes (Bissessar, 2018); (3) increased servant leadership behaviors, which can ease the gender power distance (Bissessar, 2018;Dirk, 2011;Perkins, 2017) and ( 4) increased efforts by senior organizational leaders to consider the benefits of gender diversity in team leadership. Additionally, inviting female leaders to employ androgynous leadership, where feminine and masculine traits are blended, with the feminine traits being dominant as a step towards transcending gender stereotypes, and utilizing gender-based behaviors to develop new, customized leadership styles (Athanasopoulou et al, 2018;Perkins, 2017).…”

The Moderating Effect of Gender Equality and Other Factors on PISA and Education Policy

“…These collective mental models distinguish between different groups of people and are useful for understanding the moderating effect of culture on social phenomena [58]. They have been used, for example, to deepen understanding of education achievement and assessment practices through a cultural lens [50,59,60], to gauge the effect of non-educational factors in large-scale assessments [41], and to explore the gendered nature of educational leadership across contexts [61]. Despite criticisms that these dimensions are excessive and unbalanced [62,63] they have also been acknowledged as rigorous, relevant, and accurate [63].…”

Transformational leadership behaviours of women in a socially dynamic environment

“…Long-term orientation (a part of the leadership behaviour of Europeans and Americans) tends to signify perseverance and future gains (Hofstede et al, 2010). Short-term orientation (related to Arab leadership) is mostly about infrugal existence where change management is a secondary concern (Bissessar, 2018).…”