Cultural intelligence (CQ) in engineering students: a case study of Northern Ireland and Ireland

Globalisation requires engineers to collaborate effectively in diverse teams and communicate across cultural boundaries. To design classroom interventions that foster students’ cultural intelligence (CQ), it is crucial to establish a baseline of current CQ levels. This study surveyed 143 engineering students in Northern Ireland and Ireland, employing The Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS). Findings indicate that the CQ scores of engineering students is comparable to other worldwide studies, scoring highly on Motivational, Metacognitive and Behavioural CQ, but less so on Cognitive CQ. Statistical differences using paired t-tests indicate that women self-report higher scores than men in Cognitive, Motivational and Behavioural CQ sub-dimensions. Further, students in Ireland were more likely to enjoy intercultural interactions and felt more prepared to change their verbal behaviour compared with students in Northern Ireland. Educators should incorporate international case studies or coursework, promote language learning and offer global experiences to better prepare students for successful international careers.