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Differences of National Cultural Influences on Higher Education in China and the United States

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Submitted By lischen
Words 4510
Pages 19
Introduction
1.1 Problem definition
Any discussion of higher Education in different countries needs to be conducted within the context of the overall perception of a country’s culture, society, history, salary and intellect. These influences are the foundation of the education in a country. Due to these different influences every country has a different understanding of education. I will also concentrate on the influence of culture on education in China and in the United States (U.S.) with special emphasis on Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, because culture and history can lead the way in understanding the differences among student’s higher education.

1.2 Objectives
The paper investigates the differences between the education in China and the U.S. against the background of dramatical differences in culture and history. First the country-specific Cultural Dimensions by Hofstede need to be elaborated to reveal a basic approach for the understanding of a nation’s culture. Based on Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and the history the effect on education and instructional strategies in China and the U.S. will be discussed.

1.3 Course of the Investigation
To achieve the objectives the course of the investigation will be carried out in three steps. In the first step the conceptual background on the topic will be defined to provide a basis. Chapter 2 describes the theory and the five Dimensions of Hofstede’s Culture’s Consequences.
In the second step the explanations focus on practical applications of the paper. First the elaboration of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions to the education (Chapter 3.1) and the impact of the historical roots on the development of higher education in China and the United States (Chapter 3.2) will be discussed. Following, the outstanding differences in education will be presented (Chapter 3.3).
In the third step and last section the

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