Cultural Competence in Academic Advising
Feb 23, 2016
Cultural Competence in Academic Advising
What is cultural competence?
O The ability to effectively interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
O Cultural competence is comprised of four main components: O (a) Awareness of one's own cultural
worldview.O (b) Attitude towards cultural differences.O (c) Knowledge of different cultural
practices and worldviews.O (d) Cross-cultural skills.
Why is cultural competence important?
O Increased diversity is already present:O 1/5 of students in the public schooling system
are immigrants or children of immigrants.
O By the year 2050, European Americans will no longer be the numeric majority.
O Colleges today embody a multitude of ages, cultures, races, ethnicities, sexual orientation, languages, nationalities, etc.
New reality for Academic Advisors
O Academic Advisors will be working with increasingly diverse student populations.
O Advisors need to be able to respond appropriately to their needs.O How can we learn to do this?
O Through cultural competence training…
Cultural competence training
O Can be used to…O Raise awareness (of self and others).
O Gain knowledge about diverse student populations.
O Learn skills to adjust/adapt behavior.
O For more information about cultural competence training and cross-cultural issues in advising, check out this NACADA webpage
Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
1) Denial -- The inability to construe cultural difference.2) Defense -- Recognition of cultural difference coupled with
negative evaluation of most variations from native culture -- the greater the difference, the more negative the evaluation.
3) Minimization -- Recognition and acceptance of superficial cultural differences such as eating customs, etc., while holding that all human beings are essentially the same.
4) Acceptance -- Recognition and appreciation of cultural differences in behavior and values.
5) Adaptation -- The development of communication skills that enable intercultural communication.
6) Integration -- The internalization of bicultural or multicultural frames of reference.
ReferencesBennett, M. J. (1993). Towards Ethnorelativism: A developmental model
of intercultural sensitivity. In R. M. Paige (Ed.). Education for the intercultural experience. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
Cardenas, V., Ajinkya, J., & Leger, D. G. (2011). Progress 2050: New ideas for a diverse America. Retrieved from: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/10/ pdf/progress_2050.pdf
Martin, M., & Vaughn, B. (2007). Strategic diversity & inclusion management. San Francisco, CA: DTUI Publications Division.