Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia
Many researchers show interests in cross-cultural studies within various scopes such as business, management, leadership and education. Some of them even actively search answers regarding Asian cultural values and most of them found that generally, Asian societies are clearly tied with collective characteristics. Specifically, Asian men are argued as individualists, while the women are categorized as collectivists. To verify the arguments on Asian culture, thus, this study is intended to examine the influence of cultural values on male and female students’ learning styles, particularly individualistic and collective learning styles. The target population for this study consists of undergraduate students in Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan Utara Malaysia (KUKUM). From the findings, it is concluded that there are significant differences between male and female students in terms of individualistic and collective learning. It is also proven that Asian people truly value collective approach. Specifically, the female students characterized themselves as collective learners, but simultaneously they were also slightly inclined towards individualism, whereas the male students partly viewed themselves as collective learners.
Keywords: Culture, Gender, Learning Style