Internet-Based Cultural Competence Training for White Undergraduate Students at a Predominantly White University

Introduction

This article describes a study that assessed the effectiveness of an online training on cultural competency taken by white students at a predominantly white university. There are three dimensions to cultural competence:

1. Awareness: An understanding of attitudes and beliefs towards and among racial and cultural groups. 
2. Knowledge: An understanding of perspectives and values held by various racial and cultural groups.
3. Skills: A cultivation of communication skills that are culturally appropriate and sensitive. 

This study assessed improvement in participants’ cultural competence along with racial colorblindness, white privilege, and skill employment before and after cultural competence training implementation. The authors argue that reductions in belief in colorblind attitudes can improve white individuals’ empathy and awareness of prejudice. Relatedly, they argue that awareness of white privilege can help white people “improve their understanding of their own biases as well as appreciate the viewpoints and experiences of people of color […].”

The authors suggest that the positive outcomes from cultural competence training can benefit college campuses by bolstering skills and awareness among the white student population that enable them to recognize their privilege, better understand the perspectives and experiences of people of color, and even act to address prejudices and inequities on campus and in the world. 

Nyx Robey was a graduate research assistant in the Department of Psychological Sciences at William & Mary. She now works in public sector consulting. Cheryl Dickter is a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at William & Mary. Her research focuses on using social cognitive approaches to examine how individuals perceive members of different social groups.

Methods and Findings

This study was conducted at a predominantly white liberal arts university in the mid-Atlantic United States. 73 self-identified white students in an Introduction to Psychology course participated in the study. Of these individuals, 63 identified as female, nine as male, and one as transgender. The students completed a four-hour online course, which was spread over four weeks. The study authors modified an existing training that focused on key elements of cultural competence and skill building. The training was modified to focus solely on race (the original training also focused on religion and gender), and the training was transitioned to an online model to increase accessibility.

The authors assessed the impact of the training on the following outcomes:

1. Cultural Competence (four components):
   1. An individual’s own awareness (e.g., “My culture has an impact on the way I see the world.”) 
      • Study Result: Improvement in self awareness. (A higher reported level of agreement with the above statement.)
   2. An individual’s awareness of others (e.g., “I refrain from using certain words and phrases that I know may be offensive.”)
      • Study Result: No improvement in awareness of others.
   3. An individual’s development and use of knowledge (e.g., “I am familiar with important customs of a cultural group other than my own”)
      • Study Result: Improvement in knowledge. (A higher reported level of agreement with the above statement.)
   4. An individual’s proactive skills development (e.g., “I confront racist comments in public settings made by strangers.”)
      • Study Result: No improvement in proactive skills development.
2. Racial Colorblindness: An individual’s acknowledgment (or not acknowledgment) of differences between social groups and respecting group identities. (e.g., “Talking about racial issues causes unnecessary tension.”)
   • Study Result: Decrease in racial color blindness.
   • Study Result: Increase in acknowledgement of differences between social groups and respecting group identities.

3. White Privilege: An individual’s awareness of their own privileges and their attitudes surrounding white privilege. (e.g., “My skin color is an asset to me in my everyday life.”)
   • Study Result: Increase in self-reported recognition of white privilege.
   • Study Result: Notable increase in awareness regarding anticipated costs of confronting white privilege. (e.g., “If I were to speak up against White privilege, I would fear losing my friends.”)

4. Skill Employment: An individual’s employment of the skills taught by the received training. (Range of “explicitly chose not to use their skills when they could have” to “used all skills.”) These skills were the following: “(1) active listening to make space for others’ experiences, (2) asking questions to check hypotheses, (3) asking questions to understand others’ experiences and develop empathy, (4) calling out prejudice/discrimination, (5) acknowledging mistakes after someone calls you out, (6) owning your bias (calling yourself out).”
   • Study Result: The majority of participants self-reported that they used skills in their everyday life. However, there was no change in skill rating from before the training.

Conclusions

The authors explain that this study reveals important insights regarding cultural competence training that should be evaluated further. This study was conducted on a small, majority female sample size during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. Given the unique conditions surrounding the pandemic, the study would benefit from replication in other university (and non-university) environments.

This study contributes to a larger body of research on campus climate and inclusion as it relates to racial diversity. Specifically, the authors highlight the training’s effect on increasing participants’ awareness of their white privilege; the authors did not anticipate the significant increase in both awareness of anticipated costs and subsequent remorse associated with their privilege. This finding is critical because it suggests that one should examine how these feelings may motivate white people to work towards antiracist efforts.

Overall, the findings indicate promising results for cultural competence trainings on awareness and knowledge of white privilege and of attitudes associated with racial groups. They suggest that further iteration on these trainings will enable white students to address racial inequities in their lives.