Final Paper -- Kyle MacQueen

From what you have learned in this course, compare and contrast women’s leadership in India versus UAE, and the role of culture in women’s leadership in the two nations.

Having traveled to India, and then reading my classmates’ post-departure papers about the United Arab Emirates (UAE), I was surprised to learn how similar the two cultures are. In terms of leadership, comparable factors in both cultures affect the women in terms of the choices they make and the positions they hold. Some of the cultural influences affecting women’s leadership include family expectations, attitudes, and values.

Family roles significantly impact both the women in India and the women in the UAE. In both countries, it is more common for women than men to be the caregivers to children and elders. In India, it was not uncommon to meet a student whose mother had earned a Master’s degree, but then dropped out of the workforce to become a “homemaker.” We also visited a very innovative company that offered a twelve week paid maternity leave, which is wonderful, but no paternity leave was mentioned, most likely because it is more likely the women who will leave the workforce after a child is born. Similarly, in the UAE, one student commented that in general, marriage and family are always one’s top priority (though she was choosing to pursue a career after graduation). Additionally, another Emirate woman explained that motherhood is something the culture is proud of, and that women understand their part in society. As a result, women are most likely to choose pursuing a family over career, and recognize that this is contributing to the good of society; a career could interfere with this top priority. Both cultures are high in the dimension of in-group collectivism which emphasizes the importance of strong relationships and personal commitments to one another (Gupta, V. & House, R., 2004, 26). This is most likely why there is such dedication from mothers to stay home and raise their children.

Additionally, the high in-group collectivism in both cultures affects family involvement in education and work opportunities. In India, we learned that students’ parents would help them financially in pursuing higher education. Students, in most cases, were not working, but focusing completely on their studies due to this assistance. Students would also speak to their parents at least once daily about how things were going. These close relationships can have a significant meaning for students and also help improve communication skills. In addition, the panelists we heard in India also thanked either their parents or husbands (or both) for their continued support and guidance as they made career changes and needed emotional or financial support. Likewise, family support is common in the UAE, but in a different way. When a woman is interested in a job, it is not uncommon for a father or husband to accompany her on the interview to check out the work environment and make sure she would be safe there. This not only shows support but the love family members have for one another.

Another important aspect of both cultures that affects women’s leadership is the medium to high dimension of humane orientation. On our trip to India, it was very obvious that people were more at peace with themselves, and also showed compassion and empathy for one another. The spirituality in both countries is commendable because it guides their daily actions and beliefs. In India, there is an understanding that everyone has a purpose in the world; this same theory seems to exist in the UAE from what I read in students’ papers. This has a large impact on women’s feeling about work and education. In India, there was a high degree of authenticity among the panelists we heard from. Many of the women talked about finding an inner passion, taking risks, and having faith. They discussed self-confidence, self-belief, persistence, and endurance. They had searched inside of themselves to discover their passion and then pursued it. In the UAE, the same messages of having self-confidence, dedication, and recognizing personal strengths were delivered. I thought it was interesting to read that in the UAE, women would seek higher education in leadership not only because they could they use these skills at work, but also at home. Overall, from what I gather, though women are expected to be homemakers in these cultures, they are given more respect for this which can lead to greater self-confidence in other areas of life.

In terms of leadership positions, women in both India and the UAE faced challenges in regards to balancing career and family. In India, many of the women panelists we heard from chose to become entrepreneurs who could then arrange their schedules to work with the needs of their families. However, the careers they pursued were dominated by women including daycares or schools, or fashion or handicraft markets. Similarly, in the UAE, if a woman chooses to pursue a career, a flexible schedule is a requirement so that they can also take care of their families. Madam Al-Gurg, an Emirate woman, said she chose a teaching job so that she could balance raising her children. This is important to note, because similarly in the United States, women pursue teaching so that they can have the same school hours as their children. This shows worldwide, women are typically the primary caregivers and they are selfless about the sacrifices they make in order to be there for their children. Now that Madam Al-Gurg is in a leadership position, it is great to hear she recognizes the need to implement more flexible schedules for young women, and that there is also the need for on-site childcare. Though it will take time before this is made possible in all organizations, it is great that the UAE is up to date on these issues and seeking new ways to aid women in the workplace.

It is clear that males dominate the workplace in both of these cultures. Because they are typically the “breadwinners,” they also see greater success in career advancement. Dissimilarly, when Indian women or Emirate women try to enter management positions, there are more obstacles to overcome. Though husbands are supportive of their wives, I question why they do not try to implement more ways to increase women’s visibility in leadership positions.

Overall, I feel that these two cultures are more similar than dissimilar. Additionally, I think we, the whole Management class, were all surprised to see how similar the students were to us. Despite some cultural and spiritual differences, we have a lot more in common than once thought. We also will face similar challenges as we enter the workforce based on traditional norms that still exist in each society. I am glad to see efforts are being made to help increase the visibility of women not just in the workplace in general, but also in leadership positions. It will be interesting to see how things change over the next five to ten years.


Analyze your experiences in your host country on the challenges associated with cross-cultural travel and communication. Discuss what factors allowed you to adjust to these challenges, using concrete examples from your trip, and integrating class readings into your analysis.

The Indian culture is very different from the United States. Although challenges are typically anticipated when traveling abroad, it is hard to grasp them unless you are actually there experiencing the differences. Although, we had studied India before our trip and learned about the nine cultural dimensions used to generically understand the culture, it did not mean as much until we were able to apply what we had learned. Some of the challenges we faced in India included adjusting to their time schedules and communication styles and language.

One difference we had a hard time accustoming ourselves to was the difference in chronemics. In the United States, we are used to a monochromic time schedule; we are used to time schedules and deadlines, and sticking to them. On the contrary, a polychromic time schedule is more common in India. Therefore, it is more likely for people to do several things at the same time and place greater value on personal involvement than having things completed by a certain time (Hodgetts et al, 2006, 195).
We, the students, felt frustrated with this because we thought we were arriving late everywhere, but it was never really an issue because the Indians are used to a polychromic time schedule where meetings are likely to start and end later than planned.

Another challenge associated with traveling to India was adjusting to the difference in communication styles. This includes proxemics and non-verbal styles. In the United States, we are accustomed to keeping a social distance in most interactions. Therefore, it is not uncommon for two people communicating to stand two, maybe even three feet apart. In India, however, it is more common to use a personal distance (which in the United States is used for talking with close friends and family). Sometimes I thought to myself why is this student standing or sitting so close to me, because I was uncomfortable at first. After adjusting to it and remembering that India is a different culture and that is what they are accustomed to, I was not as uncomfortable. Additionally, they kept their eye contact with you while speaking, where as in the United States, we will sometimes be doing something else or looking elsewhere while listening at the same time.

It was also a challenge to understand their non-verbal styles of communication. India is a high-context culture which places more value on the society as a whole than on the individual. Due to this high value on relationships and understanding of one another, an indirect style of communication is most common, meaning that timing, facial expressions, and voice intonation can all play a role in communication other than what is simply spoken (Hodgetts et al, 2006, 181). Additionally, because each person knows a lot about one another, they can also use a succinct style of communication. This was difficult to adjust to because in the United States we tend to be uncomfortable with pauses and silence, and we were also unfamiliar with their non-verbals. I noticed that many of the students would nod their heads from side to side while I was speaking, and I only assumed that this was their way of indicating that they were listening to me, but I was never certain of this.

What helped me to adjust to these challenges was remembering that we were in a high collectivist and high context culture. This reminded me that the Indians valued their relationships and that they were more likely to stand closer and even use more non-verbals than I may have previously been accustomed to in the United States. It was so interesting to actually experience what we had learned. So often, we hear things and learn things but don’t fully grasp what it means until we experience it first hand. I now truly understand why cross-cultural communication can be so difficult and found this experience to be very valuable.


Works Cited
Gupta, Vipin; House, Robert J. (2004). Understanding leadership in diverse cultures: implications of project GLOBE for leading international ventures, in D. Tjosvold and

K. Leung, 2004, Leading in high growth with Asia, New Jersey, World Scientific.
Hodgetts, Luthans, & Doh. (2006). International Management – Chapter 7 - Cross-Cultural Communication and Negotiation.