hofstede mentions several traditional assignments to masculine roles: assertiveness, competition, and toughness, and to feminine roles: orientation to home and children, people, and tenderness.
According to these roles, in masculine styled Cultures, the traditional distinctions are strongly maintained. In these cultures, students may have more competitiveness exhibited in the classroom. Feminine styled cultures tend to collapse the distinctions and overlap gender roles (both men and woman can exhibit modesty, tenderness, and a concern with both quality of life and material success).
From Hofstede's Index, some gender focused (MAS) index nations show a high MAS ranking, some a middle of the range ranking, and some ranking low:
HIGH: Japan-Rank 1, Austria - Rank 2
MIDDLE RANGE: S. Africa-Rank 13, USA - Rank 15
LOW: France - Rank 35, Sweden - Rank 53.
Hofstede's definition focuses on the balance between roles and relationships. High ranking masculinity cultures would indicate these classroom distinctions:
-Traditional gender/family/age distinctions .
-Work tasks, roles, and mastery, with quick results for limited tasks.
- Lessons oriented to exploration control.
- interaction highest through games and competitions.
-Graphics, sound, and animation used for Utilitarian purposes
Feminine cultures would respond to class management and lesson that include:
-Blurring of gender roles.
-Mutual cooperation, exchange, and support (rather than mastery and winning).
-Interaction enjoyed through poetry, visual aesthetics , and group projects.
An example of a low masculinity/high femininity ranking culture is Sweden (MAS Rank53). Sweden has good social services and is very inclusive. For example, men in Sweden have paternity leave , as compared to a high masculinity/Low femininity ranking culture such as the Arab countries (MAS Rank 23), where paternity Leave is not even considered as an acceptable item in employment benefits.