Developing Multicultural Counseling Competencies in Undergraduate Students

Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Undergraduate Multicultural Course

The American Psychological Association (APA) recently revised their Guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major in 2013. In this updated version diversity is included in the broad goal of ethical and social responsibility in a diverse world. Indicators associated with this goal include student awareness of prejudice within themselves and others, sensitivity to issues of power, privilege and discrimination, and knowledge of cultural diversity. Previous researchers have discussed the conditions necessary and processes by which intercultural learning and prejudice reduction occur. The current study utilized a measure of multicultural competence to assess the effectiveness of a semester-long undergraduate multicultural course. The results indicated the multicultural course was more effective than a personality course in increasing multicultural knowledge but had no impact on multicultural awareness. The discussion focused on the conditions that may have influenced the results.