Intercultural, or cross-cultural, competence is a crucial skill-set in today’s global workplace, where employees are more likely to interact with co-workers, vendors or customers from different cultures and countries, and need to work productively with people who have been shaped by different values, beliefs and experiences.
Immigration and demographic changes have made the United States more diverse. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 50 percent of children under 5 today are part of a minority race or ethnic group, and it’s expected that by about midcentury, the U.S. population will be majority-minority. The number of foreign-born workers increased to 16.5 percent in 2014 from almost 15 percent in 2005, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
These and other changes in the fabric of American society make intercultural competence more valuable than ever before. It is increasingly being viewed as a necessary skill not only in business but in the military, K–12 schools and colleges.
From ETS: Why Intercultural Competence is Essential — and How Schools and Businesses Are Helping People Develop It @ https://news.ets.org/stories/intercultural
Intercultural Thinking: Students will evaluate generalizations about cultural groups, analyze how cultural groups might affect communication across cultures, evaluate how specific approaches to global issues will affect multiple cultural communities or political institutions, and untangle competing economic, religious, social, political, or geographical interests of cultural groups in conflict.
Trait 1: Own and Other Cultures: Evaluate generalizations about cultural groups.
Trait 2: Communication with Others from Different Cultures: Analyze how cultural groups might affect communication across cultures.
Trait 3: Global Awareness: Evaluate how specific approaches to global issues will affect multiple cultural communities or political institutions.
Trait 4: Cultural Conflict: Untangle competing economic, religious, social, political, or geographical interests of cultural groups in conflict.
Credo Reference: Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice: Intercultural Competence - Entry from the Credo Reference Database about Intercultural Competence.
Intercultural Thinking: MU Learning Outcomes Supporting Documentation - Gives precise information about traits and performance levels expected of students learning to master this learning outcome.
Ucok-Sayrak, Ozum. “Attending to the ‘Face of the Other’ in Intercultural Communication: Thinking and Talking about Difference, Identity, and Ethics.” Journal of International & Intercultural Communication, vol. 9, no. 2, May 2016, pp. 122–139. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/17513057.2016.1142600.