Resea ch Pape
Recommended ci a ion: McKennedy, J., Beagon, U., Mo gan, M., Hen y, R., &
Jani, R. (2025). Majo ia-Mino ia: An E ec i e In e cul u al Skills Wo kshop o
Enginee ing S uden s. In Kangaslampi, R., Langie, G., Jä inen, H.-M., & Nagy, B.
(Eds.), SEFI 53 d Annual Con e ence. Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing
Educa ion (SEFI), Tampe e, Finland. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17631467.
This Con e ence Pape is b ough o you o open access by he 53 d Annual Con e ence
o he Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing Educa ion (SEFI) a Tampe e Uni e si y in
Tampe e, Finland. This wo k is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons
A ibu ion-NonComme cial-Sha e Alike 4.0 In e na ional License.
MINORIA-MAJORIA: AN EFFECTIVE INTERCULTURAL SKILLS
WORKSHOP FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS
J. McKennedy a,1, U. Beagon b, R. Jani c, M. Mo gan d, R. Hen y e
a Technological Uni e si y Dublin, Dublin, I eland, ORCID 0000-0003-0565-6116
b Technological Uni e si y Dublin, Dublin, I eland, ORCID 0000-0001-6789-7009
c Technological Uni e si y Dublin, Dublin, I eland, ORCID 0000-0002-0080-8494
d Uls e Uni e si y Bel as , Uni ed Kingdom ORCID 0000-0002-6827-031X
e Uls e Uni e si y Bel as , Uni ed Kingdom ORCID 0009-0006-7442-633X
Con e ence Key A eas: Di e si y, equi y and inclusion in ou uni e si ies and in
ou eaching, Enginee ing skills, p o essional skills, and ans e sal skills
Keywo ds: In e cul u al skills, Summe School, Enginee ing Educa ion o
Sus ainable De elopmen , P o essional skills
ABSTRACT
The skills ha a e equi ed o enginee s o mee he sus ainable de elopmen goals
(SDGs) in he 21s cen u y a e di e en o hose lea ned by adi ional enginee ing
s uden s. One skill which has been iden i ied as a equi emen is an In e cul u al
compe ence. As pa o he PROFESS 12 esea ch p ojec , he in e cul u al
wo kshop Mino ia - Majo ia was acili a ed wi h a g oup o 20 s uden s: 10 om TU
Dublin and 10 om Uls e Uni e si y. The pu pose o he exe cise was o
demons a e he skills equi ed in in e cul u al nego ia ions. Se en di e en
na ionali ies we e ep esen ed in he wo kshop. One o he aluable ou comes
epo ed was ha s uden s lea ned ha lis ening was a use ul ool o manage
misunde s anding. Bo h quali a i e and quan i a i e eedback demons a ed ha he
in e cul u al skills lea ning ou comes we e me . This pape p o ides a empla e o
his wo kshop o be used wi h enginee ing s uden s wo ldwide.
1 Co esponding Au ho
Ini ials Las name J McKennedy
e-mail add ess jane .mckennedy@ udublin.ie
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Li e a u e Re iew
In e cul u al compe ence has been de ined as he abili y o nego ia e and in e ac
e ec i ely and app op ia ely in di e se cul u al si ua ions (Dea do and
A asa a nam-Smi h, 2017) in e ms o beha iou , wi h cogni i e awa eness and
empa hy (Mahade an, 2010). In a ecen su ey, in e cul u al skills we e iden i ied as
one o 53 skills equi ed o enginee s o achie e he SDGs (Beagon e al. 2022). I
has been acknowledged ha in e cul u al compe ences ha e become in eg al o he
educa ion o a success ul enginee . The e was a lack o awa eness o in e cul u al
skills in enginee ing s uden s by Yu (2012).
Mills e al. (2010) espoused he inco po a ion o a ious le els o in e cul u al
awa eness in o enginee ing p og ams o p o ide an inclusi e enginee ing educa ion
o unde g adua es. Di e en in e cul u al aspec s a e add essed by Mahade an
(2010): socie al, unc ional, ins i u ional – all o which ha e an impac on he wo k o
an enginee . Simila o he wo k p esen ed in his pape , De Jong & Wa melink
(2017) used a ole-play wo kshop wi h enginee ing unde g adua es o e ec i ely
each in e cul u al skills.
To da e he e ha e been some di e en app oaches o inco po a ing in e cul u al
compe encies in enginee ing unde g adua e p og ammes. Mahade an (2010)
embedded i in o hei in e na ional enginee ing p og amme inco po a ing semina s
and a o eign wo k placemen . A Ohio S a e Uni e si y, in e cul u al compe ence
was inco po a ed in o a caps one p ojec (Sou s, 2023).
In e cul u al wo kshops ha e been used ex ensi ely and e ec i ely o a leas 50
yea s o de elop he equi ed skills o he de elopmen o his compe ence (Ruben,
1976). O e ha ime he concep has de eloped. The alue o in e cul u al
wo kshops p io o any in e na ional s uden placemen s has been acknowledged by
many academics (Do zhino a and Man uso , 2019; Rico-Ga cía and Fielden Bu ns,
2020) as well as wi h enginee ing s uden s speci ically (Be ka e al. 2021, Pa e son
e al. 2016). The wo kshop used he e, Majo ia Mino ia, was de eloped by Kohls and
Knigh (1994) a ound he p emise o economic nego ia ions be ween wo ic i ious
na ions wi h unequal weal h and esou ces. I has been used in a wide ange o
scena ios since hen and has been p aised o i s open-ended s uc u e (Fowle and
Pusch, 2010).
1.2 Backg ound o he p ojec
The PROFESS 12 p ojec was a join ini ia i e be ween Uls e Uni e si y in No he n
I eland, which is pa o he UK and TU Dublin in I eland. Funded by he Highe
Educa ion Au ho i y (HEA), i s p incipal aim was o imp o e cul u al ela ionships
be ween No h and Sou h and build connec ions be ween esea che s, academics
and s uden s in each ju isdic ion. Hence a i e-day summe school was designed
wi h en s uden pa icipan s om each uni e si y and was hos ed in each loca ion
wi h a el and accommoda ion ully unded by he p ojec . The i s 2.5 days o his
week-long school we e held in TU Dublin and he second hal o he week was
hos ed by Uls e Uni e si y. The in e cul u al wo kshop o med pa o he i s hal o
he p og amme. The objec i e o he exe cise was o make pa icipan s awa e o he
impo ance o in e cul u al skills and me a key aim o he unding call, add essing
in e cul u al skills equi ed o mee he SDGs. The objec i e o he exe cise was o
make pa icipan s awa e o he impo ance o in e cul u al skills. The Mino ia Majo ia
wo kshop add esses he concep o E hnocen ism whe e judgemen s abou o he
cul u es a e made om he pe spec i es o one’s own cul u e and he impac ha
ha can ha e.
The esea ch ques ions add essed in his pape we e (1) Wha a e s uden s’
pe cep ions on he e ec i eness o an In e cul u al wo kshop? and (2) Wha is he
impac o using a wo kshop pedagogy o de elop unde g adua e in e cul u al
compe ence?
2 METHODOLOGY
2.1 E hical App o al
An e hical app o al applica ion was app o ed by he Resea ch E hics and In eg i y
Commi ee, TU Dublin o he deli e y and e alua ion o he summe school in May
2023.
2.2 App oach
A wo kshop was designed based on he p e iously de eloped Mino ia-Majo ia
simula ion (Kohls & Knigh , 1994). The lea ning ou comes ha we e add essed in
his session we e (1) o app ecia e he simila i ies and espec he di e ences in how
people om di e se cul u es pe cei e hings (2) o aise awa eness o ou eac ions
in con lic and communica ion s yles. An ou line o he lesson plan used is p esen ed
in Table 1 below.
Table 1:Lesson Plan o deli e y o Majo ia-Mino ia wo kshop
Timing
Con en /Ac i i y
In oduc ion: 10
minu es
1. Explain o he g oup ha hey’ e going o pa icipa e in a
game called “Mino ia-Majo ia.” The game cen es a ound
helping people om o he coun ies.
2. Di ide he g oup in wo. Allow hem o pick hei coun y
om a ha . Hal he g oup will be Majo ians om he
“coun y” o Majo ia and hal will be Mino ians om he
“coun y” o Mino ia.
3. Send he Majo ians and one acili a o o ano he oom, he
“coun y” o Majo ia. Ha e he Mino ians s ay in he o iginal
oom, he “coun y” o Mino ia. The acili a o s in each oom
should pass ou he app op ia e ins uc ion shee s, and
o he supplies.
4. Gi e he eams abou 2 minu es o e iew hei ins uc ions.
Then ha e he Mino ian acili a o ell he Mino ians ha hey
ha e 20 minu es o plan an independence celeb a ion o
hei coun y and decide how o g ee he Majo ians when
hey a i e. Ha e he Majo ian acili a o ell he Majo ians
hey ha e 10 minu es o plan how o help he Mino ians.
10 minu es: De elop
s a egy
1. A e 10 minu es, ha e he Majo ians “a i e” in Mino ia. I
he Mino ians p o es ha hey’ e no eady o he isi , he
Majo ian acili a o should explain ha he Majo ians mus
s ick o a igh schedule because o unding egula ions.
30 minu es:
Nego ia e
1. Allow up o 30 minu es o he g oups o nego ia e and
discuss he si ua ion as hei coun y ep esen a i es.
30 minu es:
Feedback o o he
coun y and
discussion/ e lec ion
.1 Ask bo h Mino ians and Majo ians o s ay wi h hei
espec i e coun ies.
2. Now ask he Majo ians o desc ibe he Mino ians’ cul u e.
W i e he Majo ians’ commen s on lipcha and don’ allow
he Mino ians o speak.
4. Nex , le each g oup espond o he o he g oup’s
desc ip ion. No e whe he he desc ip ions a e posi i e o
nega i e and why.
5. Ask a ep esen a i e om each g oup o desc ibe his o he
g oup’s cul u e and o iginal ask o he o he g oup.
6. Ask bo h g oups o o e on which g oup hey’d wan o be a
pa o in eal li e.
Open discussion
The e we e 20 membe s in he g oup and hey we e spli in o wo g oups o 10. The
o iginal exe cise s a ed ha he ci izens om each coun y we e o make and wea
a mbands o di e en colou s o iden i y whe e hey came om. This was no
conside ed necessa y in his i e a ion. The e we e 7 di e en na ionali ies
ep esen ed in he wo kshop: 11 I ish, 4 B i ish, 1 Po uguese, 1 Chinese, 1
Mongolian, 1 Tanzanian, 1 Nige ian.
The ins uc ions o each “coun y” we e gi en as pe he o iginal exe cise by Kohls
and Knigh (1994). A he end o he wo kshop he p omp ques ion ha was used
was “Would you p e e o be om Mino ia o Majo ia?” This gene a ed a ich, open
discussion a ound he pa icipan s pe cep ions o he wo kshop and hei own
expe ience o cul u al di e si y was enabled.
In o de o e alua e he impac o he wo kshop and o he elemen s o he summe
school, au al and w i en da a we e collec ed om all he pa icipan s. The audio
om he wo kshop and he subsequen discussions we e eco ded. Quali a i e
su ey ques ions we e de eloped based on he lea ning ou comes. S uden s’ su ey
esponses and e lec ions we e analysed. These p o ided bo h quan i a i e and
quali a i e da a.
3 FINDINGS
In his i e a ion o he wo kshop he iming wo ked pe ec ly. One hou and wen y
minu es was allowed o he wo kshop. This allowed o he pa icipan s o engage
wi h he ma e ial, o sha e hei own pe sonal expe iences o in e cul u alism and
e lec on hei own pe sonal in e cul u al pe spec i es and hei pe spec i es o he
wo kshop. As wi h any g oup, he e we e a wide ange o pe sonali ies p esen in he
g oup and his wo kshop allowed o all hose p esen o con ibu e.
A su ey using a 5-poin Like scale was used o de e mine i s uden s el hey had
me he lea ning ou comes o he wo kshop. A ange o s a emen s ela ing o he
lea ning ou comes we e p esen ed and op ions om s ongly ag ee o s ongly
disag ee we e p o ided. The esponses gi en o he in e cul u al skills ela ed
s a emen s a e p esen ed in able 2. These da a show ha s uden s ag eed o
s ongly ag eed wi h he s a emen s p esen ed wi h he excep ion o one esponden
who p o ided a “neu al” esponse o he s a emen “Be mo e awa e o my eac ions
in con lic and communica ion s yle”. The e we e no disag ee o s ongly disag ee
esponses. The median esponse o all 4 ques ions asked was “S ongly ag ee”.
These s a emen s we e designed o e alua e s uden s’ own pe cep ions on how hei
in e cul u al skills had de eloped and how much mo e com o able hey we e o
engage wi h in e cul u al scena ios.
Table 2: S uden Responses on In e cul u al Skills De elopmen
Feedback S ongly
Ag ee Ag ee Neu al Disag ee S ongly
Disag ee
Collabo a e wi h s uden s
om di e se backg ounds
15
(78.9%)
4
(21.1%) 0 0 0
App ecia e he simila i ies
& espec di e ences in
how people om di e se
cul u es pe cei e hings
15
(78.9%)
4
(21.1%) 0 0 0
Be mo e awa e o my
eac ions in con lic and
communica ion s yle
11
(57.9%)
7
(36.8%)
1
(5.3%) 0 0
I ha e mo e awa eness o
in e cul u al skills
13
(68.4%)
6
(31.6%) 0 0 0
Quali a i e da a was collec ed a he end o he summe school when s uden s we e
asked o e lec on he ques ion: “I see you did some hing on in e cul u al skills, can
you ell me wha you lea ned om ha ”? Pa icipan s eco ded hei e lec ions o ally.
Below a e ep esen a i e samples o he esponses om ha ques ion. Space does
no allow all o he esponses o be included: “cul u al di e si y was discussed,
highligh ing how cul u e a ies om coun y o coun y and he impo ance o
adap ing o di e en cul u es”; “need o os e posi i e in e ac ions wi h indi iduals
om di e se cul u al backg ounds, and he impo ance o unde s anding and
espec ing di e se cul u al no ms and p ac ices. By p omo ing cul u al di e si y, he
p og am aimed o c ea e an en i onmen ha os e s inclusi i y and p omo es
in e na ional unde s anding”; “I lea ned ha di e en people ha e di e en
pe cep ions o a subjec and a speci ic si ua ion”; “Basically espec , communica ion
ac ually being able o lis en and speak clea ly and p esen you ideas in an e icien
way”, “you could ac ually see and eel he momen and how di e en cul u es can
e ec (sic) a pe son and how con e sa ion can lead a comple ely di e en way i
he e is a misunde s anding”; “we we e 20 di e en people di e en mindse s and
di e en cul u es om B azil, China, Nige ia, so om he e on we can also say ha
yes, i was eally in e cul u al”.
These esponses ep esen he de elopmen o in e cul u al skills and awa eness
h ough he medium o he wo kshop along wi h he di e si y o na ionali ies
pa icipa ing in he summe school. F om he i s sample esponse abo e, he
esponden indica ed app ecia ion o he cul u al di e ences by “ he impo ance o
unde s anding and espec ing di e se cul u al no ms”. Addi ionally, bo h esponden s
used he wo d “ espec ” in hei e lec ions, a pe spec i e which is undamen al o
any in e cul u al awa eness. In e es ingly, as can be seen in he second esponse
he acili a o s obse ed ha he s uden s s a ed using wo ds such as “we a e he
majo i y” o “bu we ha e o help he mino i y” subconsciously e lec ing he impac
ha wo ds o i les can ha e on one’s p econcep ions.
Bo h he quan i a i e and quali a i e esponses demons a e ha he lea ning
ou comes o app ecia ing simila i ies and espec ing di e ences in how people om
di e se cul u es pe cei e hings and aising awa eness o ou eac ions in con lic
and communica ion s yles we e achie ed. The quali a i e esponses display ich
expe ien ial lea ning gained by s uden s om hei in ol emen .
SUMMARY
In summa y, he Mino ia – Majo ia in e cul u al wo kshop was used in ou summe
school o enginee ing s uden s on he island o I eland in an e ec i e manne o
each he in e cul u al compe ence equi ed o enginee s o he u u e. This can
easily be used wi h ano he g oup o enginee ing s uden s al hough he di e si y o
na ionali ies and pe sonali ies p esen in ou g oup ce ainly added o he lea ning
gained. The wo kshop could be modi ied o inco po a e he impac o in e cul u al
di e ences speci ically in an enginee ing con ex .
This pape examines how socie al and na ional in e cul u al awa eness is used o
de elop he cognizance and skills iden i ied by Mahade an (2010) in he summe
school pa icipan s. The s uden pe cep ions o his wo kshop demons a es ha he
lea ning ou comes we e me and ha his wo kshop can be used as an e ec i e way
o each in e cul u al skills.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like o acknowledge he HEA, DFHERIS and he Sha ed Island Fund o
suppo o his p ojec unde he No h Sou h Resea ch P og amme.
Co- unded by he Eu opean Union unde G an Numbe 2023-1-PL01-KA220-HED-
000165199. Co- unded by he Eu opean Union. Views and opinions exp essed a e
howe e hose o he au ho o au ho s only and do no necessa ily e lec hose o
he Eu opean Union o he Founda ion o he De elopmen o he Educa ion
Sys em. Nei he he Eu opean Union no he en i y p o iding he g an can be held
esponsible o hem.
We would also like o hank all s uden s who we e in ol ed in he summe school o
hei engagemen and open and hones eedback and he companies who hos ed he
si e isi s.
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