what knowledge, training, or skills do you possess pertaining to multiculturalism

Cultural Competence

An Important Skill Ready for the 21st Century

Maria Rosario T. de Guzman, Extension Specialist in Adolescence

Tonia R. Durden, Extension Specialist in Early Childhood Instruction

Sarah A. Taylor, Graduate Research Assistant

Jackie Grand. Guzman, Extension Educator

Kathy 50. Potthoff, Extension Educator

Displaying the cultural competency behaviors of active listening, empathy, and constructive engagement tin can help us to create a welcoming environment and establish the appreciation of similarities and differences among cultures.

Cultural competence is the ability of a person to effectively collaborate, work, and develop meaningful relationships with people of various cultural backgrounds. Cultural background tin include the behavior, community, and behaviors of people from diverse groups. Gaining cultural competence is a lifelong process of increasing cocky-sensation, developing social skills and behaviors effectually diverseness, and gaining the ability to advocate for others. It goes beyond tolerance, which implies that 1 is but willing to overlook differences. Instead, it includes recognizing and respecting variety through our words and actions in all contexts.

Why Is Cultural Competence Important?

Demographic shifts and an increasingly various population

The Us has always had an ethnically various population, including African Americans, Native Americans, and Japanese Americans, to proper noun a few. In contempo years, our country has undergone dramatic shifts in its population, particularly every bit rapid migration has changed its mural. For instance, the Hispanic population in the U.S. rose from approximately 12.5 percent in 1990 to over sixteen percent past 2009, and is anticipated to contain 25 percent of the population past 2050. The U.Southward. Census Bureau estimates that by 2043, the U.S. will go a "majority minority" country. This means that although the non-Hispanic white population will still exist the biggest group, a single group will no longer make up the majority. More than than 50 pct of the population will place every bit belonging to an ethnic minority group or whatsoever group other than non-Hispanic white.

In other words, although nosotros take ever lived in an ethnically diverse society, we are all operating in an increasingly culturally diverse environment where nosotros need to be able to interact, communicate, build relationships, and work effectively with people from diverse cultural and indigenous backgrounds. Moreover, those of us working with youth need to fix them to operate in a society that will be even more diverse in terms of organized religion, indigenous background, and sexual orientation.

Societies are increasingly becoming globalized

Today'southward world is diverse and global. Engineering science has made interactions beyond cultures around the world a very mutual experience. Social networking sites, blogs, and chat rooms are letting people regularly collaborate across national borders. Many industries currently take a significant amount of international collaboration, and careers in many fields increasingly entail working with people from different countries, both directly and indirectly. Children and youth today need to be prepared to enter a workforce and adult order that spans across borders and involves interacting with people of diverse backgrounds in myriad settings.

Recognizing our increasingly globalized society, many industries and professional organizations (e.chiliad., National Pedagogy Association, RAND Corporation) are emphasizing the importance of cultural competence and related skills (e.1000., global awareness) as essential in today's workplace. Numerous universities are besides incorporating cultural awareness and development equally part of the higher education experience and career training past creating opportunities for students to participate in international experiences. Successfully navigating our globalized order entails existence able to empathize and appreciate diversity in its many forms, and to effectively engage and communicate with people from dissimilar cultures.

Persistence of problems around cross-cultural contact, bigotry, and related challenges

Despite the fact that societies are condign more than culturally diverse and globalized, problems surrounding inequality, bias, and breakdowns in intercultural communications persist. The FBI reports that in 2013, there were almost 6,000 reported incidences of detest crimes in the United States. Of these, about 60 percent had racial or ethnic motivations; 20 percent were effectually sexual orientation; and 17 percent involved religion. There are also numerous bias incidents, persistent inequalities around racial and indigenous lines, and institutional policies that perpetuate inequalities at both the private and institutional levels. One need not look across recent news reports to discover that indigenous tensions persist.

Discrimination and bias in diverse forms are hurtful all around

Discrimination and bias accept serious consequences. For example, stereotypes and bias accept been claimed as the foundation for the surge in reported incidences of constabulary brutality and the deaths of African Americans. A substantial body of work has also shown that victims of bias suffer in ways that may exist less visible—in their academics, work performance, and other domains of life—even when those biases are subtle. Research on "microaggressions" (i.eastward., regular or daily subtle and small-scale acts of bias that may exist consciously or unconsciously expressed) illustrate this point and testify that even subtle incidences can have cumulative and serious consequences for socio-emotional well-being.

Negative effects are evident not just for the victims of biases. Recent research suggests that stereotyping, bias, and incidences of microaggressions not only affect the victim but likewise contribute to a hostile environment for anybody so that people in the broader setting (due east.g., workplace) might feel invalidated or even intimidated and driveling.

In addition, holding biases and prejudice also negatively affects the very persons holding those stereotyped beliefs. Experimental research shows that individuals with racial biases who interact with people of colour show increased levels of cortisol and other stress hormones. Thus, biases and stereotypes have negative furnishings all around—for individuals and institutions, equally well equally for the targets of bias and for those holding such biases.

Tips for Building Skills in Cultural Competence

Developing cultural competence is a procedure rather than an end point. Just like any skill, the process of development and comeback continues, and it is hard to point to a detail time when one tin can say "That'due south it! I've reached it!" At that place are many ways past which we can increment our chapters to be effective in our interactions with others. Beneath are some suggestions to motility forward in your evolution.

Increasing cultural and global noesis

Learning more about other cultures and being aware of electric current events is frequently key in learning most diverse cultural groups' points of view. When working with people from different cultural backgrounds, it tin be useful to learn well-nigh their civilization's practices, values, and beliefs. For example, learning about the languages spoken in their communities, child-rearing practices, or religious traditions can help united states of america understand and interact with individuals and groups of various backgrounds.

Conflicts that emerge betwixt groups are oft rooted in issues that may have deep historical origins. Information technology is very helpful to understand these historical backgrounds that may help explain current events. For instance, why do certain words or phrases that seem neutral evoke negative reactions with specific populations (due east.g., "Where are you from?" or "You really should be appreciative of what I give you lot")? Some of these phrases reflect long histories and electric current experiences of oppression and thus evoke hurt and other negative feelings. Injure feelings among youth may bear on their ability to develop trusting and potent relationships with adults, which are necessary for youths' growth and development. Similarly, some traditional events may evoke controversy as to their meaning and whether they should celebrated at all (due east.g., Columbus Day). Regardless of what side of the debate y'all might align with, the first and most important step is to sympathize the issue.

Finally, beyond history, numerous events and policies continue to impact the individuals, families, and cultural groups with which you are interacting. Examples of these include wars and territorial conflicts. For those of us working with refugees or migrants in our communities, it is essential nosotros understand events that underlie their movement from their home countries.

Fig. one.The Fine art of Active Listening

Self-assessment

Reflecting critically on our own biases and prejudices helps to develop the skills necessary to effectively interact and engage with individuals whose cultural background is different than our ain. Realizing that everyone has biases is an important step for building cultural competence. Our biases may stem from our backgrounds, experiences, or personal demographics, and these biases exist whether or not nosotros are aware of them.

The problem is when nosotros deny or fail to acknowledge our biases. Our interactions and perceptions of others may be influenced past our biases. These biases may crusade us to inadvertently act in ways that are discriminatory towards others.

However, if we are aware of our biases, nosotros can work to diminish our own prejudices and the implications they may take in our interactions with others. In fact, holding on to the belief that 1 is "color-blind" and unbiased is linked to unfavorable behaviors, such as miscommunication and lack of trust across racial groups, reluctance to help others from a unlike cultural group, and less ability to detect biased behaviors. Acknowledging that nosotros all take biases and that we all hold stereotypes is the start step in cultural competence.

Going beyond tolerance: Edifice skills and putting them in activity

Tolerating different cultural backgrounds is a step in the right direction. All the same, tolerance is non always optimal. In fact, tolerance normally means that y'all are simply putting up with something that is undesirable. Cultural competence goes beyond "putting up with" differences and instead involves being appreciative, affirming, and inclusive of all cultural backgrounds. For example, to increase our cultural competence, nosotros tin can enquire members of a cultural grouping open-minded, open-ended questions, or ask for more information, such as, "I would like to acquire more about . . ." Additionally, making an effort to detect verbal and nonverbal actions that certain cultures may not find advisable (east.m., mitt shaking) can establish an inclusive environs.

Overall, cultural competence has three of import components: agile listening, demonstrating empathy, and constructive appointment. Each is detailed in the next section.

Agile Listening

When was the last time you engaged in an agile listening conversation with someone who has vastly dissimilar experiences and beliefs than you? Actively listening to an individual allows yous to larn nearly that person's culture and experiences. You should mind for total meaning by focusing on the content that is existence given and concentrating on what is beingness said.

Active listening entails thinking near the feeling behind the content or the emotion involved. The emotion gives evidence of the existent intent of the conversation, which will help you identify if the person is upset, inquisitive, or acting on another emotion and allow you to answer appropriately.

In addition to listening for full meaning, you should as well avoid mental distractions when building cultural competency through active listening. This means listening with focus and not becoming involved in mental chitchat almost how you are going to answer to a person or question. For example, if you believe that homosexuality is immoral and a selection and you are in a debate with a friend on the legalization of same sexual practice marriage, instead of engaging in mental chitchat about what scientific or biblical facts you can recite to prove your perspective, the key is focusing on what is being said and how it is existence said.

Lastly, once you take listened for truthful meaning, the other person feels understood, and you both take limited mental distractions, you will desire to brand sure yous ask more than questions of the other person than offer solutions. Practice not jump directly to giving people advice or offering solutions about what you perceive to be the problem or their problem. The response that is effective, especially if you are in a situation in which y'all are responsible for resolving a conflict between two people, requires seeking more than information and multiple perspectives first.

Empathy

The 2d component of cultural competency is demonstrating empathy. It is the art of seeing and feeling the situation of another, walking in another person's shoes, or seeing the earth as that person sees it. Empathy involves understanding that person'due south perceptions and the conclusions that person draws near his or her life experiences. It does not mean you have to hold with that person's perceptions and conclusions, but at the very least, y'all are able to run into the other person's position.

Take the previous example related to sexual orientation. A privilege of being heterosexual in our society is having multiple media, print images, and entertainment that portray heterosexual dearest and relationships and indicate it is non taboo to hug or requite a peck to your girlfriend or husband while in public. These images are non as prevalent for same-sexual activity couples. Therefore, empathy involves being able to empathise the other person's position. To be effective, you must engage in advisable inquiry and dialog. Information technology also involves building relationships with an individual or particular cultural grouping.

Engagement

The third component of cultural competency is effective engagement. Engagement should be mutually beneficial and a reciprocal learning experience in which you learn from one some other. Focus on the behaviors and the situation, not the person. Value-laden statements making the individual the target should exist avoided.

If the focus of the conversation or interaction is about a tradition or belief, continue the feedback within the context of that tradition or belief. Do not say, You are being silly because you believe that Muslims should be able to step out of form to pray six times a day. Focus on understanding the tradition or practice. Approach the topic by saying: I understand this is role of your organized religion, but I exercise not understand how it effects your belief in God and why you are required to pray six times a solar day. This opens up dialog in which the person tin can explicate to you the tenants of that culture and the requirement of prayers.

Displaying the cultural competence behaviors of agile listening, demonstrating empathy, and effective engagement is important when moving across tolerance. These three components volition help u.s.a. to create a welcoming environment and found the appreciation of similarities and differences among cultures.

Resources

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Colby, S. L. & Ortman, J. M. (2015). Electric current population reports: Projections of the size and composition of the U.Due south. Population: 2014 to 2060. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.

Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, Due south. E., Kawakami, K., & Hodson, Chiliad. (2002). "Why can't we just get along? Interpersonal biases and interracial distrust". Cultural Variety & Ethnic Minority Psychology eight (2): 88–102.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (2014). Bias breakdown (note: News release from the Almanac Detest Law-breaking Statistics Report). Accessed from https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/december/latest-detest-crime-statistics-report-released

Mendes, W. B., Greyness, H., Mendoza-Denton, R., Major, B., & Epel, E. (2007). Why egalitarianism might be skillful for your health: Physiological thriving during stressful intergroup encounters. Psychological Scientific discipline, 18, 991–998.

Nuwer, R. (2015). When cops lose control. Scientific American Mind, 26(6), 44–51.

U.S. Census Bureau (2008). Hispanic population in the U.s.a.: 1970 to 2050. Accessed Nov 28, 2011 from http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hispanic/hispanic_pop_presentation.html

U.S. Census Bureau (2010). The Hispanic population: 2010. Accessed November 28, 2011 from http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf

Vescio, T. K., Gervais, S. J., Heiphetz, 50., & Bloodhart, B. (2014). The stereotypic behaviors of the powerful and their effect on the relatively powerless (pp. 247–266), in T. D. Nelson (Ed), Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. New York: Psychology Printing.

Wong, Thousand., Derthick, A. O., David, East. J. R., Saw, A., & Okazaki, South. (2014). The what, the why, and the how: A review of racial microaggressions inquiry in psychology. Race and Social Bug, 6, 181–200.

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