The Role of Education and Gender in Cultural Intelligence

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to identify how education and gender influences an individual’s level of cultural intelligence. This is a relatively young field that is growing, as the world is getting smaller. Initially, the theory on the subject is presented through different perspectives on cultural intelligence and previous studies connecting the relationship between cultural intelligence and both antecedents and outcomes. By using analysis of variance, we have researched and analyzed the relationship between gender, education and other factors that might have an explanatory power on the level of cultural intelligence. We have used the scientifically approved test BCIQ-38, developed by Ilan Alon, Michele Boulanger, Judith Meyers and Vasyl Taras, and questioned students at the University of Agder. The results proved that there were differences between the genders and levels of education when it comes to cultural intelligence. Education had a significant impact on the global knowledge dimension, and females turned out to have higher motivational cultural intelligence. Number of countries lived in was the only variable which resulted in having significant effect on the total cultural intelligence score. These findings emphasize the importance of taking a higher education, and to grasp the opportunity of studying abroad.