Maximizing Human Capital by Developing Multicultural Competence
Multicultural competence, defined as an understanding of international business and social relations plus the attitudes, skills, and special knowledge necessary to apply it, is identified as an emerging component of human capital in the global economy. This article documents the growing demand for multicultural competence, describes the course content and advisor activities that have been recommended to develop this capacity, and comments on the limits and inherent dangers of providing multicultural exposure to everyone. The article also identifies new roles, such as that of a “culture broker,” which characterize the global economy. Academic advisors are urged to help students maximize their human capital by adding multicultural competence skills as part of their formal education.
Contributor Notes
Leigh Shaffer received his Ph.D. in social psychology at the Pennsylvania State University and is Professor of Sociology and Interim Coordinator of Institutional Research at West Chester University. He would like to thank Nelson Keith for helping shape his thoughts on multicultural competence, and he would also like to thank Sam Moore, Catherine Renner, Barbara Schneller, Lynn Spradlin, and Rhoda Todd for commenting on a previous draft of this article. Susan Ritson was invaluable in helping him locate sources for this article. Correspondence concerning multicultural competence or human capital should be addressed to Leigh S. Shaffer, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383. Electronic mail may be sent via Internet to lshaffer@wcupa.edu.
