Intersectionality

Intersectionality is a framework for understanding how multiple aspects of a person’s identity - such as culture, race, gender, language, religion, ability, age, and socio-economic status - interact to shape their experiences, opportunities, and challenges (Crenshaw, 1989).

Within education, this perspective emphasizes that learners are never defined by one characteristic alone. Instead, their identities and lived experiences are formed through overlapping structures of power and inequality. This means that students are not only shaped by cultural background but also by a complex interplay of gender, class, language ability, and other social markers that affect how they engage with authority, peers, and academic practices (Kirwa Tum Kole, 2025). Lecturers working in diverse classrooms may be attuned to cultural differences, but cultural identity alone does not fully explain how students learn, participate, or feel included. A student’s gender identity, first language, special needs, or socio-economic status can amplify or mitigate the influence of cultural norms (Holliday, 2018).

For example

A female student from a collectivist background may feel tension between cultural expectations of modesty and institutional expectations to speak assertively during debates.
A working-class international student may value respect for teachers yet lack the social and academic capital typically rewarded in university environments.
A neurodivergent learner from a culture that emphasizes conformity may struggle to advocate for accommodation, experiencing a double barrier of cultural and neurological expectations.

By explicitly acknowledging these intersections, educators avoid oversimplifying students into a single identity category. Instead, they can design inclusive and responsive classes that account for variability in student experience and reduce the risk of reinforcing stereotypes.

Group Work, Debate, and Independent Learning. Comfort with group work, debate, and independent learning varies widely across cultures. In collectivist cultures, collaboration and group identity are often prioritized over individual recognition, making group harmony a key goal (Hofstede, 2011; Alqarni, 2022). Conversely, in individualist cultures, students may prefer to work alone and value competitive discussion. These preferences have a significant impact on classroom dynamics and participation, particularly in courses that emphasise critical thinking and peer interaction.

Motivation, Problem-Solving, and Authority. Students’ learning motivation, problem-solving strategies, and responses to authority are also culturally influenced. High-uncertainty-avoidance cultures may produce students who seek clear instructions and prefer structured tasks, whereas students from low-uncertainty-avoidance cultures may thrive in open-ended, creative tasks (Hofstede, 2011). Students from cultures with a strong respect for authority may be hesitant to question their teachers. In contrast, students from more egalitarian cultures may feel more comfortable speaking up and sharing different opinions (Alqarni, 2022).