A common observation people make about intercultural awareness training is that it stereotypes people. The fact that intercultural training presents information on a particular nationality or culture is taken to be a negative attribute, i.e. that we box people with rigid labels that correlate to their behaviour, values or actions. Such observations are misplaced.
Intercultural awareness training does provide conclusions on cultures or nationalities but it does not stereotype. Stereotyping is usually a negative statement about a group of people. A stereotype emerges when a blanket perception is applied to an entire group of people. For example, we may know one Japanese person who is very quiet so we conclude that all Japanese are quiet and reserved. Or we see certain media images and conclude that because a person is Muslim they are prone to violence and aggression against non-Muslims. Both are far from the truth.
A stereotype is an incorrect perception of a people based on minimal experiential evidence. Stereotyping is therefore rightly seen as a negative way of seeing people. This is even true of positive stereotypes. Again, a positive stereotype is where we use a blanket expression for a whole people, i.e. all the Chinese are great at maths, all Germans are well organised or all English people are well mannered. Although the intent behind the statement is positive, it still does not reflect the truth.
As a consequence people shy away from making stereotypes and believe every individual should be taken on their own merit. Although in a perfect world this is an ideal scenario, when preparing someone with intercultural training to live in India, negotiate in Dubai or work with Brazilians, it is completely impractical.
Intercultural training must therefore provide people with some sort of standard against which they can make reference. This is done through "generalizations" not stereotypes. Generalizations are different from and far more reliable than stereotypes. What intercultural training does is observe a people, pinpoint commonalities and draw certain conclusions based on these. For example, an intercultural researcher or trainer working and/or living in Kuwait is able to make a few accurate, but at the same time, general statements about the Kuwaitis. They may therefore be able to make the generalizations that one should be aware of gender roles, that to do business building a personal relationship is crucial, that if you have a good network of contacts this should be used, and that decision making can be a long slow process that ultimately always rests at the top of an organisation.
Naturally there will be exceptions to these rules, but generalizations can and do paint a pretty accurate picture of a country or people. This is because although there are many layers to people, i.e. gender culture, lifestyle culture, regional culture, etc, they all in one way or another fall under the umbrella of national culture. To a certain extent then, most people will share common traits defined by their national culture.
A salient point to note is that intercultural training discourages participants from using blanket views of peoples. The spirit and ethos of intercultural training is to encourage people to discover one another through personal interaction. Real intercultural awareness only comes through experience. What intercultural training does is provide people who feel they need to know more about a country before working or living there with a safety net. This safety net provides them with a safe form of reference when they are unsure about an intercultural situation. Once that person actually goes though the experience of meeting someone, conducting negotiations or entertaining a guest they can then discard the safety net and refer to their own experiences.
In conclusion, intercultural training does not stereotype people but provides generalizations. These generalizations are based upon careful research and observation and offer people with simple guidelines on a country or culture. These guidelines simply act as an intercultural safety net people can turn to when uncertain. Only through experience can people really apply true intercultural knowledge and competency.
© Kwintessential Ltd
