Transcript The effect of a multi-disciplinary, international

Dr. John Kachurick
The problem
 “…many students lack the basic
understanding of cultural pluralism needed
to maximize competency with ethnically
and racially diverse clients”
(Varricchio, 1987, p. 57).
Cultural Competency?
 Definitions of cultural competency abound.
 One of the earliest definitions sees cultural
competency as a “…set of congruent
behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come
together in a system, agency, or among
professionals enabling them to work
effectively in cross-cultural situations”
(Cross, Bazron, Dennis, & Isaacs, 1989: iv–v).
Cultural Competency? (2)
 Duke University defines cultural competency as
“an experiential understanding and acceptance of
the beliefs, values, and ethics of others as well as
the demonstrated skills necessary to work with
and serve diverse individuals and groups.”
Cultural Competency
 For this presentation, the definition of Cross
et al. is the operation definition since it is
succinct, clear and the building block upon
which the other definitions are constructed.
Cultural Intelligence
 Earley & Mosakowski (2003) contend that cultural
competence starts with one’s cultural intelligence, that
is, one’s ability to operate in a variety of situations that
involve cross-culture functionality.
 This ability includes four elements:
 Behavioral intelligence
 Cognitive intelligence
 Motivational intelligence
 Metacognitive intelligence
Metacognitive Intelligence
 The ability to acquire cultural knowledge, recognize
cultural assumptions, understand cultural norms, and
perceive others' cultural preferences before and during
interactions.
(Ang, Dyne, Koh, Ng, Templer, Tay, & Chandrasekar)
Cognitive Intelligence
 Knowledge of economic, legal, values, and social
systems in different cultures and subcultures.
(Ang, Dyne, Koh, Ng, Templer, Tay, & Chandrasekar)
Motivational Intelligence
 The desire to learn about and function in situations
involving cultural differences, based on intrinsic
interest and confidence in one's ability to deal with
them.
(Ang, Dyne, Koh, Ng, Templer, Tay, & Chandrasekar)
Behavioral Intelligence
 The ability to exhibit situationally appropriate verbal
and nonverbal actions, including words, tone, gestures
and facial expressions, when interacting with people
from different cultures.
(Ang, Dyne, Koh, Ng, Templer, Tay, & Chandrasekar)
Dimensions of Cultural
 Hofstede’s (1980, 1991, 2001) framework of cultural
values is the most cited work in regarding cultural
variation, although others have expanded upon his
work.
 Hofsted’s (2001) dimensions are:
 Individualism/Collectivism
 Uncertainty Avoidance
 Power Distance, and
 Masculinity/Femininity
 Long-term Orientation
Culture
 Hall (1990) defines culture as a set of behavioral rules
gained during the socialization process that determine
how a person sees her environment and her use of
verbal and non-verbal communication.
 Hall seeks to provide tools to decipher
messages from other cultures.
 He notes three dimensions to messaging:
 Multi-tasking vs mono-tasking
 The distance individuals maintain between each
other in social interaction
 High or low cultural context for
communications
Enhancing the Models
 Trompenaars (1994) enhances the paradigms of
Hoftede and Hall, using a seven-dimension model for
analysis:
 universalism – particularism,
 sequential time –synchronic time,
 specific - diffuse,
 acheived status – ascribed status,
 outer directed – inner directed ,
 affectivity –
 neutrality, individualism - collectivism
Cultural Immersion
 “The desired professional outcome of transcultural
immersion experiences is cultural sensitiv(ity)…in
practice”….
 “…once a student has had the chance to become
immersed in another worldview, one may see
differences as well as similarities resulting in a
more culturally sensitive approach”
(Ryan & Twibell, 2002, p.38).
Misericordia University
 Small, liberal arts, Catholic university
 Very homogenous (Caucasian) population
 Limited student exposure to those from other cultures,
races, and ethnicities
University Ties to Cultural
Competency
 The university developed a strategic plan that
addresses a goal for diversity that states:
“We will provide for our students to
graduate with cultural competency and
our employees to gain needed knowledge,
awareness and skills”
(Misericordia Strategic Plan)
Strategic-initiative Grant
 Two faculty from the business department and one
faculty from the nursing department received an
$8,000 university strategic-initiative reserve grant.
 The goal of the grant was to facilitate the
development of a pilot international, crosscultural, immersion course to provide students
with an opportunity to develop cultural
competency and to study in an international
setting.
The Proposal
 The three faculty members developed a multidisciplinary course in cultural competency.
 Undergraduate and graduate students from all
programs were encouraged to apply.
 Twelve students (9 graduate, 3 undergraduate)
applied and were accepted for the course.
 The faculty obtained IRB approval to conduct a
research study.
Hypothesis
 A statistically significant relationship exists between a
student’s development of cultural competency and an
international, multi-disciplinary, cultural-immersion
experience.
Guyana, SA
 The course involved the 12 students and the
three faculty members traveling to Guyana, one
of the poorest nations in South America.
Pre-immersion Activities
 Prior to departure for Guyana, the 12 students who
registered for the course attended six on-campus class
sessions designed for diversity training and trip
preparation.
 The faculty administered the Discovering Diversity
Profile to all students as a pre-test at the final meeting.
DDP Test (2)
 The Discovering Diversity Profile is a cultural
competency test that explores diversity in four key
areas:
 Knowledge: Stereotypes and information are assessed
 Understanding: Awareness and empathy are measured
 Acceptance: Tolerance and respect are examined
 Behavior: Self-awareness and interpersonal skills are
measured and insights are provided into actions and
attitudes
DDP (3)
 The DDP aligns well with the concepts outlined by
Hofstede, Hall and Trompenaars and is a good proxy
for these concepts.
 The instrument meets validity and reliability
requirements.
Student Immersion Plan
 Students were matched with preceptors related to
their respective fields of study (nursing, organizational
management, social work, and occupational therapy)
for a two week period.
 Each student spent approximately two weeks working
in a variety of organizations within Guyana.
 During this time, students wrote reflection papers and
participated in group learning sessions.
 Students also engaged in a variety of cultural
experiences such as field trips, tours and leisure
outings over the two-week period.
The Students’ Background
 5 Graduate Organizational Management Students
 4 Graduate Nursing Students
 1 Undergraduate Social Work Student
 1 Undergraduate Nursing Student
 1 Undergraduate Physical Therapy Student
Placement Goals
1. Matching placements to the abilities, skills and
knowledge of the students.
2. Determining the appropriate organizations.
3. Securing commitment of organizations to allow
foreign students to participate in their workplaces.
 Contact within the organizations
 Visiting the organizations to give student backgrounds.
Placements (1)
 Matching placements to the abilities, skills and
knowledge of the students.
 Resumes
 Interviews
 Transcripts
Placements (2)
 Determining the appropriate organizations.
 Safety
 Interaction with employees
 Appropriate position within the organization
Placements (3)
 Securing commitment of organizations to allow
foreign students to participate in their workplaces.
 Contact within the organization
 Visiting the organization to:



develop a relationship with the contact and any managers
involved
give it students’ backgrounds
observe conditions
Our Advantages
 The official language of Guyana is English
 The three professors have prior experiences within
Guyana on rganizational, university and individual
levels.
 The three professors are familiar with the culture.
 The three professors have contacts in the right places
within Guyana.
The Participating Organizations
 GuySuCo
 Demerara Distilleries
 Mercy Wings
 St. Joseph Mercy Hospital
 Georgetown Public Hospital
GuySuCo
 One student spent four days at East Demerara Estates, a sugar
processing plantation, observing the production of sugar
products from the harvested sugar cane.
 The second GuySuCo placement involved putting a student into
the IT environment of this major Guyanese corporation so he
could observe and interact with the employees of the
department on a professional and personal level.
Demerara Distilleries
 This placement shadowed a marketing representative
for this world-renowned distiller of rum and other
sugar-based products, including visiting a variety of
establishments that sold the firm’s products.
Mercy Wings
 The two students, one a graduate student and the
other a social work student, were placed at Mercy
Wings, a facility operated that is an innovative
vocational-technical training program for adolescents
who have not completed traditional schooling.
 Our students interacted with faculty and students at
Mercy Wings
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital
 The four graduate nurses and the undergraduate nurse
reworked the charting system at the hospital and
provided other valuable assistance and education to
the Guyanese nurses.
 One OM graduate student worked with the CEO to
develop a marketing plan for the private, non-profit
hospital.
Georgetown Public Hospital
 The physical therapy student spent part of her time at
the Georgetown Public Hospital and the other part at
St. Joseph Hospital working in her discipline with
practitioners at both institutions.
Post-test Administration
 On the return flight to the United States, the faculty
administered to all students the Discovering Diversity
Profile as a cultural competency post-test.
Quantitative Data Analysis
 Analysis of the data using SPSS to generate descriptive
statistics and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test showed:
 No statistically significant differences between the pre-
and post-tests were apparent.
Quantitative Analysis (2)
 Probable reasons for this result include:
 The pre-test scores were extremely high
 75% of the students were at the graduate level.
 The n was extremely low (12).
 The immersion may have been too short.
 Since the data was non-parametric, the descriptive
statistics provided little usable information.
Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test
kstrtyp2 kstrtyp1
Z
Asymp. Sig. (2tailed)
arecept2 arecept1
kinfo2 kinfo1
uaware2 uaware1
uempthy2 uempthy1
-.983a
-1.077a
-1.131a
-.448a
.325
.282
.258
.654
arespct2 arespct1
bslfawr2 bslfawr1
bintpsk2 bintpsk1
-.715a
-2.405a
-1.260a
-1.029a
.475
.016
.208
.303
a. Binomial distribution used
b. Sign Test
p = .05 (.006 Bonferroni correction)
Qualitative Data Analysis
 Data excerpted from in-country class discussions and
student reflection papers following the international
study experience indicate the students enhanced their
cultural intelligence.
 The following excerpts from student papers point to an
emerging pattern of enhanced cultural intelligence.
Qualitative Data Analysis (1)
 “A look at other cultures is an experience you can only
read about - but to travel to other countries is the best
way to understand and learn. It was beyond what I
expected, a real chance to have a true look at another
culture.”
Qualitative Data Analysis (2)
 “A look at other cultures is an experience you can only
read about - but to travel to other countries is the best
way to understand and learn. It was beyond what I
expected, a real chance to have a true look at another
culture.”
Qualitative Data Analysis (3)
 “We were immersed in the culture and the community.
It allowed us to see first hand what the needs were.”
 “The opportunity to study in this wonderful country
allowed me to learn things that could not be taught in
a classroom. This experience taught me not only about
culture and diversity; it taught me more about the
person I want to be.”
Qualitative Data Analysis (4)
 “Their (Guyanese) reason was plain and simple—they
did not want to leave their homes and their families
behind. The Guyanese people are very close and very
relying on the bonds and relationships they have with
their families and I believe this is one of the greatest
factors that separate the Guyanese from the
Americans.”
Qualitative Data Analysis (4)
 “I truly believe all of us returned to the United States
with a greater appreciation for what we have at
home….Furthermore, we obtained an even greater
appreciation for another world culture.”
Qualitative Data Analysis (5)
 “… it is clearly a course that students can compare a
culture to what they experience in their own group. I
personally was made aware, obtained knowledge, and
realized that diversity has very genuine effects on
behavior and work outcomes.”
Limitations
 Threats to external validity
 Convenience sample
 Self-selected group of highly motivated students
 Small n
 Limited generalizability of findings.
Conclusions
Based on our analysis of pre-test/ posttest metrics, we found no statistically
significant relationship exists between a
students’ development of cultural
competency and an international, multidisciplinary, cultural-immersion
experience.
Conclusions
However, we did find an emerging pattern
of enhancement of students’ cultural
competencies through the insights
contained in student papers, in both
formal and informal discussions with
students and in faculty observations of
student behaviors and language usage.
Conclusions
Based on these findings, we conclude:
the use of a multi-disciplinary, immersion
learning experience may prove an effective
tool in assisting students to enhance their
awareness and understanding of their roles
as professionals within a global
community.
Questions for future study
1.
Does the setting for the immersion experience impact on
the students’ development of cultural competency
(industrialized versus developing country)?
2.
Should there be differences in strategies for
undergraduate versus graduate students to facilitate the
development of cultural competency?
3.
What types of on-campus activities most enhance the
students’ acquisition of cultural competency?
4.
Does the length of the immersion impact enhancement
of cultural competency? What is the ideal length?
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