Self Assessment Cultural Competence

As a helper, you will meet clients who differ from you in many ways: abilities, accent, age, attractiveness, color, developmental stage, disabilities, economic status, education, ethnicity, fitness, gender, group culture, health, national origin, occupation, personal culture, personality variables, politics, problem type, religion, sexual orientation, social status, and values—to name some of the major categories. These differences come with inherent advantages and disadvantages. Your ability to work with clients who are different, and sometimes quite different, from you is one of the major requirements for being an effective helper. On a scale of 1-7 (with 7 a very high score), rate yourself on the following statements. Try to be as honest as possible in your self-appraisal. We all have room for growth when it comes to being aware and positively embracing diversity. Just look around the world.

• I enjoy meeting and interacting with people who are different from me.

• I would not like to live (don’t like living) in a homogeneous culture.

• Even when my initial reactions to people are negative, I try to understand rather than judge them.

• I fully understand that people (including myself) are not perfect and I make reasonable allowances for this.

• I probably have blind spots when it comes to the way I treat people, but I’d like to know what they are so that I can deal with them.

• I see culture as a two-way street: I want to understand and respect the cultural differences of others, but I also expect them to do the same for me.

• I realize that my understanding of other people’s cultures will always be partial and fallible.

• I want to understand others in the key diversity and cultural contexts of their lives.

• Because of the richness of human diversity, when I meet and deal with others I am always a learner.

• I think that it is important for me to understand whatever diversity and cultural biases (such as racism, anti-Arabism, anti-Semitism, and the like) I have and to deal with them.

• Although I realize that differences can be a cause of conflict, I believe that differences can also be a source of human enrichment.

Consider your high scores and your low scores. Share key insights about yourself with a friend or learning partner.

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