| Cultural Competency Self-Assessment |
| This resource was adapted from "Cultural Competency Self-Assessment Checklist," from the Refugee Assistance Program Workers website (rapworkers.com). This cultural competency self-assessment will allow you to identify your assets and weaknesses as a leader. By doing so, you will be able to gain insight into how you can improve your own self-leadership skills. Read each entry in the categories of Awareness, Knowledge, Skills, Physical Environment, Materials, and Resources and Values and Attitudes. For each entry (row), place a number “1” in the column that corresponds with your selection (Never, Sometimes/Occasionally, Fairly Often/Pretty Well, and Always/Very Well). You will only have one selection per entry (row). The Excel spreadsheet will tally up your results and provide you with a total for each category. This self-assessment is not a test and will not have a right or wrong answer. The self-assessment should only be used as a tool to help you identify areas of strength and areas that might need further development. |
| Categories |
Descriptions |
Never |
Sometimes/ Occassionally |
Fairly Often/ Pretty Well |
Always/ Very Well |
| Awareness |
| Value diversity |
My perspective on human differences is that they are positive and should be celebrated. |
| Know myself |
I have a clear and positive viewpoint of my own ethnic, racial, and cultural identity. |
| Share my culture |
I have clear awareness and undestanding of the need to be prepared to share my own culture if I desire to learn more about others. |
| Be aware of discomfort |
I am aware of personal discomfort when I engage ethnicities, language, sexual orientation, religious, or races outside of my own. |
| Check my assumptions |
I am intentionally aware of assumptions I hold true about people from cultures outside of my own. |
| Check my stereotypes |
I have personal strategies to counteract harmful stereotypes that arise. |
| Reflect on how my culture informs my judgment |
I acknowledge awareness of my cultural perspective and its influence on my judgment as to what is "normal," appropriate, or "superior" values, behaviors, and communication styles. |
| Accept ambiguity |
I can experience anxiety when placed in cross-cultural situations. |
| Be curious |
I intentionally place myself in situations and places where I can create relationships and learn about differences. |
| Awareness Totals |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Categories |
Descriptions |
Never |
Sometimes/ Occassionally |
Fairly Often/ Pretty Well |
Always/ Very Well |
| Knowledge |
| Gain from my mistakes |
I am aware that I will make mistakes. I will also choose to learn from them. |
| Assess the limits of my knowledge |
I am aware of limited knowledge of certain cultural groups; however, I am committed to creating opportunities to increase this knowledge. |
| Acknowledge the importance of difference |
I am aware that differences in ethnicity, race, and culture are vital parts of an individual's identity. |
| Understand the influence of cultures |
I am aware that cultures can change over time and that an individual's attachments to cultures can vary from person to person. |
| Commit to lifelong cultural learning |
I am commited to being a lifelong learner of cultural competencies and cultural changes. |
| Know my limitations |
I am aware of potential gaps in my knowledge and choose to develop and increase my capacity for personal assessment in those areas. |
| Intercultural and intracultural differences |
I am aware that intercultural and intracultural differences exist, and I am committed to increasing my awareness response to these differences. |
| Point of referene to assess appropriate behavior |
I acknowledge an awareness to culture. All individuals have their own "culture" and I have my own. I choose to regard other points of view, not just my own as a point of reference to assess appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. |
| Knowledge Totals |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Categories |
Descriptions |
Never |
Sometimes/ Occassionally |
Fairly Often/ Pretty Well |
Always/ Very Well |
| Skills |
| Situational adaptability |
I look for opportunities to respectfully engage and interact with others who are different than me. |
| Cross-cultural communication aptitude |
I am adept at changing my style of communication to communicate effectively with those whose views and method of communicating is different than mine. |
| Pursue opportunities to broaden crosscultural skills |
I look for ways and individuals to challenge me to enhance my cross-cultural skills. |
| Diversity engagement |
I actively look for ways to get involved in initiatives that increase understanding among members of diverse groups. |
| Cross-cultural respect |
My behaviors tell others that I respect the cultures and beliefs of others. |
| Relational adaptability |
I am adept in relationship building and can easily build relationships with those who are different than me. |
| Awareness of within-group differences |
I understand within-group differences and that the behavior of one individual is not generalizable to the entire cultural group. |
| Skills Totals |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Categories |
Descriptions |
Never |
Sometimes/ Occassionally |
Fairly Often/ Pretty Well |
Always/ Very Well |
| Physical Environment, Materials, and Resources |
| Workshpace awareness |
I include décor in my workspace that is representative of the culture and ethnic backgrounds of my internal and external customers. |
| Multimedia resource awareness |
The multimedia resources that I use in my work reflect the culture and ethnic backgrounds of my internal and external customers. |
| Verbal communication awareness |
In instances in which I interact with internal and external customers whose English proficiency is limited, I keep in mind that the ability to effectively communicate in English is in no way representative of their ability to effectively communicate in their primary language. |
| Written communication awareness |
When possible, I make sure that all written communication is provided in the primary language of internal and external customers. |
| Physical Environment, Materials, and Resources Totals |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Categories |
Descriptions |
Never |
Sometimes/ Occassionally |
Fairly Often/ Pretty Well |
Always/ Very Well |
| Values and Attitudes |
| Personal values awareness |
I make it a point to not impose my values that are in contrast to those from other cultures or ethnic groups. |
| Observational awareness |
When I observe others engaging in behaviors that reflect prejudice, bias, and are culturally insensitive, I intercede. |
| Value acceptance |
I accept others even when their values differ from mine. |
| Diversity skills advancement |
I seek to improve myself through professional development and training to enhance my knowledge and skills in supporting and serving diverse groups. |
| Values and Attitudes Totals |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
