Culture, communication, and conflict management: Japanese women working in professional careers in higher education in the United States

We are living in a "global village," and, for this reason, there is more need than ever to help people communicate more effectively, and to understand conflict and how to resolve it. In addition, over the past two decades, many universities in the United States of America have opened Asian Studies, and especially Japanese Studies, programs, and the majority of Japanese professors in these programs have been female.;The major research question of this study is: What strategies do these Japanese professors use in resolving academic conflicts and misunderstandings when they occur? Sub-questions include: (1) What kinds of misunderstandings and professional conflicts do they face in their daily professional lives teaching American students? (2) What strategies do they use in dealing with these conflicts and misunderstandings and how effective are these strategies? and (3) What effect does length of time in the U.S. have on these strategies and techniques?;The data collection methods included both descriptive qualitative research methods and descriptive quantitative research methods and consisted of a survey questionnaire, open-ended guided interviews, and a review of the relevant literature. Data were collected from the sixty people who filled out the survey and the fifteen people who participated in the interviews.;The findings indicate that: (1) Misunderstandings and conflicts between Japanese female professors and their American students arose out of culturally-based differences in assumptions about formality and informality, direct and indirect communication, verbal and nonverbal communication styles, language issues, and differences in expectations and assumptions about classroom management and behavior and the teacher-student relationship; (2) The conflict management styles of the professors changed over time; and (3) The professors tended to use either a dominating style or an integrating style in dealing with conflict, with the integrating style having a greater rate of success.;Finally, the study makes recommendations as to how to better prepare Japanese female professors working at institutions of higher education in the U.S., and other professional females working in intercultural or international organizations, to resolve culturally-based interpersonal conflicts more effectively.