Culture shock!

 

 

Culture shock!

Culture shock is an all too familiar experience for international students that visit the United States for the first time. Although most cultures have mass consumed the culture of United states via Social media, television and various other avenues nothing prepares you for the real deal.

I have spent most of my adult life in the US when I came here at the age of 17 and have been meshing with the US culture ever since. I have spent the last six years working for a Fortune 200 company where I have experienced these differences first hand. So when I decided to spend my summer working for a company in India I started to notice the miniscule differences in my country’s work culture and my findings both delighted and intrigued me. In this context the findings of social psychologist Geert Hofstede are mentionable.

Hofstede laid out what he calls 5 dimensions on which you can compare the national culture of two countries. The three key metrics that stand out are Power distance, Individualism and Indulgence,

• Power Distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. A higher power distance number means that indicates an appreciation for top-down hierarchy. For instance, unlike the United states where you can relate to your boss on a first name basis it would be considered disrespectful in India to do so. 
• The Individualism dimension represents the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members.The United states scores high in this regard. In combination with the Power distance metric this means that in the US employees are expected to be more forthcoming and to seek out new opportunities. 
• Finally the Indulgence dimension shows the extent to which an individual can display restraint. A higher score in this regard would demonstrate low level of restraint.

It is important to be mindful of such differences as you try to navigate the hiring process and network with students, alumni and recruiters alike. The Dashew center at Anderson provided ample resources to international students to get them prepared and polished prior to recruiting season. Even before school starts international students are on-boarded by a Parker CMC advisor (shout out to Qilin He!) and we are signed up for mandatory iStart sessions along with international orientation sessions. 

Prepare yourself for the corporate culture in the US. Find out how your country’s culture compares to the United States? Check out today at http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html