Open to Diversity! Investigating the Impact of Cultural Intelligence on Students’ Preference for Group Work

ABSTRACT

As society becomes more diverse, the factors that can help individuals prepare for a diverse work environment are receiving much attention. Cultural intelligence (CQ) – an individual’s ability to perform and reason correctly in culturally diverse situations – is found to result in positive performance and attitudinal outcomes for international businessmen, expatriates, and international students. However, CQ can also be beneficial to hospitality employees who have frequent interactions with people from different cultures. This study uses a sample of 264 undergraduate hospitality students and finds that CQ helps students be more open to diversity and, in turn, prefer to work in a group. This study sheds new light on hospitality education by demonstrating that an inclusive learning environment can be realized by increasing the CQ of all students.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural intelligence
• diversity
• group work
• openness to diversity
• teamwork