The impact of intercultural competency training on perceived levels of conflict among multicultural student groups.

摘要

The purpose of this study, based on a quasi-experimental static group comparison design, was to determine the extent to which intercultural competency (ICC) training might be related to perceived levels of conflict (i.e., disagreements related to cultural misunderstandings and perceptions) among multicultural groups of students who participated in collaborative coursework. The sample was drawn from a population of currently enrolled students at a northern California private graduate school. One group (the experimental group) attended courses explicitly focusing on intercultural competency and the other group (the control group) did not attend such courses. Students were also classified by their age, gender, ethnicity, and whether or not they were native or non-native English speakers (English proficiency). A native English speaker versus a non-native speaker was the marker for multiculturalism. The relationship between the perceived levels of conflict (the dependent variable) and the experimental and control groups (the independent variable) was assumed to be mediated by covariates, including (a) student perceptions on how to understand a team members culture (multicultural understanding) and (b) student perceptions on how to be a productive team member (through participation in collaborative teamwork). These perceptions were assumed to vary with respect to age, gender, ethnicity, and English proficiency (as measured by asking whether participants were native or non-native speakers). It was expected that the effect size would be moderate to large, so that the independent variables and covariates might explain a significant percentage of any variance in the dependent variables.;Although the results of the study do not support the three hypotheses completely, the study nonetheless has resulted in recommendations on how intercultural competency experience and education might lessen the levels of conflict and improve the learning outcomes of persons working in multi-cultural teams.