Power distance and intercultural communication in higher education: a three-pathway systematic review

Globalisation has made intercultural communication more central to higher education, while also exposing how symbolic hierarchies influence participation, voice, and access to knowledge. This systematic review examines how Hofstede's power distance dimension operates across three communicative pathways: student-student, student-teacher, and teacher-student. The review followed PRISMA reporting principles and identified 20 peer-reviewed studies published between 2019 and 2024 in Scopus and Web of Science; these studies were then analysed through thematic coding in NVivo. The findings show that peer interaction can foster empathy, dialogue, and intercultural competence, although language barriers and stereotypes remain significant constraints. Upward communication is comparatively underexplored and often limited by reluctance to challenge authority. Teacher-student relations continue to reflect transmissive patterns, although participatory pedagogies and digital tools may reduce power asymmetries. The review proposes a three-pathway analytical framework that integrates fragmented evidence and highlights the need for institutional strategies that advance communicative equity in multicultural university settings.