3. Nov. 06, 20:39
Experiental Report: France
France from a German perspective: difficult. I have a loose notion about France but nothing tangible. Taking numbers, concepts, systems, structure, ... Germany and France seem to be so much alike but still ... they are different.
Janet tried to establish a deeper understanding asking around in her French community.
Cadre labels a social group of very different professions (but office jobs in general). In order to become a member of cadre you should have attended one of the Grands Ecoles. At the same time Julien with his Bac +5 (having graduated and then studied for 5 years) and now working on his PhD is also considered cadre. Even though he did not study at one of the Grands Ecoles.
To attend one of these Grands Ecoles you have to follow a two year preparatory program which is said to have the highest suicidal rate among students.
(the article Kay quoted allows a glance on the importance of the Grands Ecole)
The bac is differentiated into different fields: science, language, art, social science,... With 15, 16 students decide into which direction they will move and hardly ever change afterwards.
Non-cadre are normally technicians and workers but there are also middle-class-cadres. Thus the sections cannot be separated so clearly anymore.
The non-cadres are tightly organized in unions which like to push their claims with strikes. Which supports Hofstede's statement that each group carries its own pride even though it does not explain the come-abouts.
All in all groups seem to stick to their group members: designers among themselves, programmers among themselves, sociologists among themselves (and Janet among all those groups). I actually think that that is due to the fact that you know most people from your studies. In Germany it often shows to be much the same. (Maybe a Western-European style?) Nevertheless, I found it quite striking that people actually apply terms like bac +5, or cadre and non-cadre. This very much supports Hofstede who said that the individuals are aware of their position in the hierarchy. In Germany I do not necessarily find that to be true. We have terms like the Bildungsbürgertum (I'll write on that later...) but I do not see such fixed groups. But obviously I need to investigate into that.
Janet tried to establish a deeper understanding asking around in her French community.
Cadre labels a social group of very different professions (but office jobs in general). In order to become a member of cadre you should have attended one of the Grands Ecoles. At the same time Julien with his Bac +5 (having graduated and then studied for 5 years) and now working on his PhD is also considered cadre. Even though he did not study at one of the Grands Ecoles.
To attend one of these Grands Ecoles you have to follow a two year preparatory program which is said to have the highest suicidal rate among students.
(the article Kay quoted allows a glance on the importance of the Grands Ecole)
The bac is differentiated into different fields: science, language, art, social science,... With 15, 16 students decide into which direction they will move and hardly ever change afterwards.
Non-cadre are normally technicians and workers but there are also middle-class-cadres. Thus the sections cannot be separated so clearly anymore.
The non-cadres are tightly organized in unions which like to push their claims with strikes. Which supports Hofstede's statement that each group carries its own pride even though it does not explain the come-abouts.
All in all groups seem to stick to their group members: designers among themselves, programmers among themselves, sociologists among themselves (and Janet among all those groups). I actually think that that is due to the fact that you know most people from your studies. In Germany it often shows to be much the same. (Maybe a Western-European style?) Nevertheless, I found it quite striking that people actually apply terms like bac +5, or cadre and non-cadre. This very much supports Hofstede who said that the individuals are aware of their position in the hierarchy. In Germany I do not necessarily find that to be true. We have terms like the Bildungsbürgertum (I'll write on that later...) but I do not see such fixed groups. But obviously I need to investigate into that.
