Research note: are caring professions’ students more receptive to diverse groups?

ABSTRACT

Cultural competence (CC), also known as cultural intelligence (CQ), is a necessary skill for caring professions. Little is known, though, about initial levels of CQ or differences in CQ levels between students in caring and non-caring programs. A group of first-year students (n = 172) from diverse demographic backgrounds and different fields of study (social work, nursing, behavioural sciences) participated in an online survey that assessed their CQ and background attributes. Significant differences were found across fields of study so that students pursuing caring professions were more receptive than their counterparts in non-caring fields to intercultural interaction in the motivational, cognitive, and meta-cognitive CQ dimensions with no significant difference in the behavioral dimension. Mastering a non-native language was also associated with motivational and cognitive CQ. These findings suggest that greater receptiveness to intercultural interaction among students pursuing caring professions needs to be nurtured in order to generate behavioral changes.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural intelligence
• cultural competence
• intercultural education
• minorities
• caring professions

Acknowledgement

The authors extend thanks to the participants and to Dr. Shira Mor for her contribution in earlier phases of the research project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ronen Segev

Ronen Segev is a lecturer in the Department of Nursing at The Steyer School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. He is primarily interested in: (1) medical education — military nursing history, nursing history and healthcare systems developments; (2) transcultural nursing education and cultural competence in health care systems, and (3) nephrology nursing — improving patients’ quality of life and clinical nursing skills. Dr. Segev is working on a number of historical research projects: the history of Laniado, the Jewish ultra-Orthodox nursing school; a history of aspects of nephrology nursing; and a number of multidisciplinary clinical research projects conducted with colleagues from various fields, such as unmet needs among end-of-life caregivers’ patients. he intend to continue applying new nephrology nursing treatments and methods involving quality of life measures, thus improving the health of patients in end-stage renal disease. In the transcultural nursing sphere, Dr. Segev collaborates with several colleagues from the fields of social work and behavioral sciences.

Ronit Even-Zahav

Ronit Even-Zahav is a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Work at Ruppin Academic Center. Her research work focus on developing empirical and applied knowledge in light of cultural informed perspectives and feminist perceptions. Dr. Even-Zahav research interests include the following: 1) Culture informed education and academic training in social work with particular focus on the integration of students from minorities and various sectors into higher education. 2) Gender informed perspectives in intervention with women and girls in distress, victims of violence and trauma. Dr. Even-Zahav is one of the establisher of the Department of Social Work at Ruppin Academic Center and has been the head of Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program (2016- 2021), is a member of the Commission of the Uniqueness of Social Work Practice at the Council of Social Work, is a member of the 'Change' Project – the International Forum of Gender (In) Equality in Science and Research, European Union's Horizon 2020; and is a member of the International Association of Schools of Social Work.

Efrat Neter

Efrat Neter is a behavioral scientist, working at Ruppin Academic Center, Israel. Her research interests are primarily: (1) Health behavior – antecedents, decision-making, promotion, and change (including RCTs), and particularly attempting to translate laboratory findings into large-scale population interventions; (2) Health information search on the Internet and particularly eHealth literacy and mental health literacy; and (3) Self-management and goals adjustment in chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis or infertility, where Professor Neter studies self-care behaviors, medication adherence and adjustment; (4) Cultural intelligence and evolvement in educational contexts. Professor Neter was a member of the executive committee of European Health Psychology Society for six years, is the secretary of Psychology Coalition at the United Nations, and is a reviewer of several journals, scientific conferences and funding agencies and also serves on two editorial boards. Professor Neter is also a recipient of numerous research grants from public funding agencies.