HRD: Reflecting on Culture, and Competence - or Reclining on the Couch?

摘要

The growth of global scholarship in HRD invites us to reconsider many of our cultural assumptions about the scope of HRD activity and the orientation of participants in HRD programmes. This has been a recurring theme in recent issues of Human Resource Development International, and is highlighted particularly by the different social roles that women assume. Natalie Eft and Darlene Russ-Eft observe that the issue of gender role appears as a controversial problem in many cultures, but particularly so within Islamic cultures. Their article examines the lived experiences of women in rural Egypt to determine the cultural implications for HRD research and practice. Their research is presented as stories of different aspects of women's life in a village from leaving school through marriage and eventually to elderly widowhood. They conclude that, even within the patriarchal nature of Egyptian society, women do possess certain powers and rights within the family context. They stress the importance of appreciating the combined effect of the family, Holy texts and Islamic law within specific national contexts before developing and implementing HRD interventions.