True Story 7.05
Grad student defers to her professor’s advanced knowledge
The setting for this story
A Japanese graduate student, Koharu, was invited by her professor, Dr. Nagai, to join him in delivering a conference presentation in English. When the event ended, Koharu was approached with a question by Desiree, an American friend studying in Japan who had been in the audience.
A story of misaligned minds6
Desiree: Koharu, that was an excellent presentation! You and Dr. Nagai must have worked very hard on this.
Koharu: I was honored to be asked by Dr. Nagai to assist him on this project. He’s my thesis advisor, you know.
Desiree: Well, you were very good. He’s lucky to have found you. By the way, I’d like to discuss a point you made at the end.
Koharu: Yes, of course. Let me just get Dr. Nagai.
Desiree: Oh, please don’t bother him; he’s talking to some other people. Anyway, it’s about a point that you made.
Koharu: I see. Can I get you some tea?
Desiree’s question
Why did Koharu insist on bringing Dr. Nagai over to discuss a point that she had made?
Critique of story 7.05
Desiree’s question draws our attention to the differences both in the emphasis various societies give to status distinctions, and to the differing factors they regard as conferring high status.
In every society, people recognize status distinctions among themselves. In some societies such as Japan, social status differences are strongly emphasized; in others such as the U.S., they are disregarded as much as possible. In Japan, both advanced age and academic achievement confer high status on a person. In the U.S., these bring only modest increases in one’s social status – and many would argue that advancing age in the U.S. actually reduces one’s status.
An academic conference attended by individuals from the U.S. and Japan provides an ideal stage on which dissimilar approaches to status can be enacted. Dr. Nagai probably is older than Koharu, but what really commands her deep respect is his Ph.D.-level knowledge. She is strongly disinclined to do anything that might suggest that she is as knowledgeable as he is, even regarding a single lecture point. If she does so when Dr. Nagai is available nearby – even without his being aware – would (in Koharu’s view) suggest to Desiree that she, Koharu, is as knowledgeable as Dr. Nagai and therefore enjoys comparable social status. So she does not wish to discuss that point now.
But because of Koharu’s Japanese cultural background, she is too harmony-oriented to just say “no” to Desiree’s information request. Instead, she abruptly changes the subject. Let’s have tea! Desiree will need to wait until Dr. Nagai can be brought over to join their conversation.
For thought
If Dr. Nagai had already departed from the conference site, would Koharu still decline to discuss the point with Desiree? Interesting question! My guess is that Koharu would discuss the point with Desiree. But it’s likely that she would have answered while emphasizing that total credit for any underlying insight goes to Dr. Nagai’s brilliance and erudition.
Related stories
Stories 7.03 and 7.12 also discuss status distinctions among people in an educational setting.
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Endnotes:
6 Storti, 47–48.
Full citations are available at misalignedminds.info/References.