An Assessment of Multicultural Competence

Abstract

❖ This study assessed multicultural experiences and competency levels of graduate students in college student personnel (CSP) preparation programs, student affairs staff serving as internship supervisors, and diversity educators. A total of 131 students, staff, and diversity educators from four campuses in two geographical regions within the United States completed several assessments regarding multicultural competence.Respondents in all three groups rated themselves highest for multicultural awareness and lowest on multicultural knowledge. Significant differences by group and by race were observed in respondents' levels of multicultural competence: student affairs staff members scored significantly higher than did CSP students, and diversity educators scored the highest. Students of color scored significantly higher on this measure than did the White students and the staff members.

Cultivating Multicultural Competence Through Active Participation:

“…For instance, the multicultural competence concept developed by Pope and Reynolds (1997) consists of three components: awareness, knowledge, and skills. Using this approach as the theoretical framework, King and Howard-Hamilton (2003) studied multicultural experiences and competence levels of student affairs staff and graduate students preparing to enter the profession. The idea is that, once we can evaluate individuals' multicultural competence levels rather accurately at various educational stages, we can find out the value-added effect of an institution or a program.…”

On a Continuum: Examining NCORE’s Influence in the Development of Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs Educators

“…For the purpose of this study, the definition of multicultural competence for student affairs educators introduced by Pope and Reynolds (1997) was used, defined as "the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to work effectively and ethically across cultural differences" (p. 270). The researchers used definitions for multicultural awareness, multicultural knowledge and multicultural skills further refined by King and Howard-Hamilton (2003) to investigate how NCORE influenced the multicultural competence of student affairs professionals.…”

“…Sue's (2001) Multidimensional Model of Cultural Competence (MDCC) was used as the framework for this study. We used the definition of multicultural competence introduced by Reynolds and Pope (1997) and further definitions of multicultural awareness, multicultural knowledge and multicultural skills introduced by King and Howard-Hamilton (2003). The MDCC outlines three dimensions important in addressing cultural competency in the counseling field: (a) the diversity of human differences including but not limited to race, gender, disability, age and sexual orientation, (b) components of cultural competence including awareness of attitudes, knowledge and skills, and (c) foci of cultural competence at the individual, professional, organizational and societal levels.…”

Table of Contents

“…The choice of intercultural competence theory as our main framework reflects a desire to practice what we preach and communicate effectively across the differences inevitably brought to this text by our readers. King and Howard-Hamilton (2003) noticed that "achieving diversity goals is complicated by a lack of discussion regarding what attributes (knowledge, skills, attitudes) constitute cultural competency and little research on how competency develops" (p. 120). The analogy of writing across the curriculum used in the previous chapter illustrates the need for foundational knowledge in developing skills across the curriculum: in order for faculty across the disciplines to effectively support students' writing development, they need at least a basic familiarity with research on how writers develop and what components may facilitate or impede development.…”