The Difference Between Chinese and American Engineers
Which Ones Are Less Likely to Work in Teams or Trust Their Colleagues
Chinese engineers are younger, less-educated, unhappier in their current jobs and more likely to join a startup than their American counterparts according to survey released today comparing the hopes and dreams of engineers on either side of the Pacific. The report, titled “The State of Engineering in China,” is modeled on four similar surveys of the attitudes and ambitions of American engineers that were commissioned between 1998 and 2005.
A comparison of the surveys reveals some significant differences between U.S. and Chinese engineers, along with some similarities.With regard to job satisfaction and career ambition, a comparison of survey results reveals some paradoxical twists. For instance, it is an article of faith in Silicon Valley that great teams are the secret to success, and in this regard Chinese engineers seem to lag. They’re less likely to work in teams than their U.S. counterparts (57% and 76%) and when asked to evaluate various on-the-job risks, they were far more likely to consider it problematic to rely on a colleague (26% in China and 8% in the United States).
Kerry McClenahan, a principal of the communications firm behind the surveys, said this lessened sense of job satisfaction, combined with the relative youth of the Chinese engineers, helped explain another of the findings - their self-professed greater willingness to jump to startups relative to their American counterparts. By and large, Chinese engineers expressed less job satisfaction. They reported better job security than their American counterparts, but had far less say about their working conditions and were less likely to be “proud” to be working for their employer. Despite many differences, the survey turned up similarities, starting with the fact that precisely 94% of the respondents in both the Chinese and U.S. surveys were men.
