01.5 - Do Male and Female Students Develop Cultural Intelligence Differently? Insights from a Cross-Cultural Collaboration

• Maja Vidović

  Rochester Institute of Technology Croatia

  Author

• Neva Vidović

  Rochester Institute of Technology Croatia

  Author

This empirical paper explores gender differences in developing cultural intelligence (CQ) among undergraduate students. The sample is comprised of 624 students from a Croatian and a U.S. university who collaborated virtually on a six-week-long assignment that required cross-cultural interaction and teamwork. Data were collected at three time points — before, mid-, and after the project — and focused on three variables: (1) cultural intelligence, operationalized via the Confidence subscale of Chen and Starosta’s (2000) Intercultural Sensitivity Scale; (2) enthusiasm for cross-cultural learning; and (3) self-assessed efficiency in working in virtual teams. While female students exhibited slightly higher average CQ scores at all three time points, independent samples t-tests revealed that these differences were not statistically significant. Self-assessed virtual team efficiency was used as a control variable, and averages were very similar between female and male students across all three time points, with no statistically significant differences. Interestingly, female students consistently reported statistically significantly higher enthusiasm for cross-cultural learning. However, this greater enthusiasm did not translate into significantly higher CQ development over time. Both male and female students exhibited CQ growth by the end of the project, with a similar degree of improvement. These findings suggest that although female students may be more positively predisposed toward cross-cultural experiences, it does not necessarily lead to greater increases in CQ. A possible interpretation is that the structured intercultural project context provided equal exposure and learning opportunities, thereby standardizing the potential for CQ development regardless of initial interest or motivation. From a managerial perspective, the results indicate that well-designed cross-cultural projects can foster CQ development in diverse student populations, independent of gender. This underscores the value of integrating intercultural collaboration into academic and organizational training programs. Furthermore, while enthusiasm for intercultural engagement is beneficial, intentional learning design and experiential exposure remain crucial for meaningful competence development.