STEMskiller: Skill Set Map for Mentors of Early Career Researchers
CAREER MANAGEMENT: Leadership and teamwork
Intercultural collaboration skills: acting successfully in an international academic environment (includes international awareness, international communication)
Definition:
At some point in their careers, early career researchers will likely collaborate with colleagues from other cultures (at conferences, during the peer review process for articles, as part of international research teams). While governments or trans-governmental organizations may support collaborative efforts in various ways (e.g., the European Union[1]), mentors should encourage mentees to foster so-called "cultural metacognition" (awareness of the cultural assumptions made by oneself and others "to prepare for, adapt to, and learn from intercultural interactions") and affect-based trust, "the kind of trust that involves concern for the other and comfort in opening up to them"(Chua, Morris, & Mor, 2011, pp. 3 & 5 [citation below]). These competencies are currently thought to foster creativity in collaborative efforts.
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/pdf/publications/drivers_sti.pdf
Useful resources on Intercultural collaboration skills:
Chua, R.Y.J., Morris, M.W., & Mor, S. (2011). Collaborating across cultures: Cultural metacognition & affect-based trust in creative collaboration. Harvard Business School. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/11-127.pdf
Lengthy working paper. Defines concepts related to intercultural collaboration and presents a study with many references to related literature, Summarizes practical implications from a study described, finding “that coaching designed to cultivate more emotional and personal connections may be particularly valuable early in a team’s work together” and that “[m]anagers need to build metacognitive strategies for managing cultural knowledge, knowing how to learn about other cultures in anticipation of intercultural encounters, and checking and updating assumptions during interactions in relation to the cultural environment.”
Tang, M. (2019). Fostering creativity in intercultural and interdisciplinary teams: The VICTORY model. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02020
Describes “how to build and manage interdisciplinary and intercultural teams to achieve creative goals.”
Peer Review: None
Table of contents:
- 3.2.1. Managing for researchers
3.2.2. Project management
3.2.3. Decision making: crucial factors, processes and approaches
3.2.4. Conflict management
3.2.5. Self-efficiency ("independence") and academic perseverance
3.2.6. Social responsibility/taking on responsibility
3.2.7. Sustainable mobility strategies based on international cooperation
Author: Stephanie Krueger
Peer Reviewer(s): None
Last Updated: October 28, 2021