The journey toward cultural competence: Examining the perceptions and experiences of social work educators

The changes in demographics and greater awareness for special populations have created a need for SWEs, who play a pivotal role in preparing students to engage in ethical, evidence-based practice, with diverse individuals, groups, and communities. This mixed methods study examined the self-perceived levels of multicultural competence (knowledge, awareness and terminology) among social work educators (SWEs) in the United States, their preparation, disposition, and how these factors combined are transferred into meaningful classroom experiences. The Multicultural Counseling Competence and Training Survey-Revised (MCCTS-R; Holcomb-McCoy & Myers, 1999) and a Demographics survey were administered to collect and analyze the statistical data for the quantitative portion of this study. Structured interviews provided themes for the qualitative portion of this study. Findings of this study revealed that overall, SWEs perceived themselves to be culturally competent; however, a need exists for SWEs to develop Multicultural Knowledge. Using a one-way ANOVA analysis, scores revealed significant differences in the demographic areas of Years of Practice, Level of Education Completed, and Participation in Multicultural/Diversity Training. The interviews revealed that childhood experiences influenced current dispositions and a variety of innovative teaching methods to transfer cultural competence. Additional research is necessary that examines the gap between stated mandates that require cultural competence and its actual efforts toward its achievement in social work education. Finally, findings also revealed that cultural competence is not an end state, but an ongoing process of learning.