The Moderating Influences of National Culture on Student Team Member Participation: An Anglo-Indian Comparison

摘要

Recent years have seen a marked increase in the number of international students studying in the United Kingdom. At the same time, the use of student teams for both assessed project work and as study groups has been increasing, and against this background multi-cultural learning teams are becoming more common. The benefits of team learning have been much discussed in the literature, and include the development of interpersonal skills such as communication, conflict management, negotiation, problem-solving and critical thinking skills. However, the realisation of these outcomes is dependent on effective team functioning and full member participation in the team process. This paper reports the findings of a cross cultural study into student team member participation in a higher education context. Two groups are compared -UK and Indian nationals. Drawing on research into national cultural differences, the results indicate Indian students (who in terms of national culture score significantly higher for collectivism) to be significantly less likely to participate fully in the team process, and more likely to engage in behaviours which preserve a veneer of team harmony at the expense of self-expression. The implications of these finding for team management, the delivery of the benefits of team learning, and individual student learning are examined.