Cultural Humility and Why It Matters

Cultural competence is something that’s been talked about since the 1960s and for good reason. As our communities, our neighborhoods, and our workplaces become more global, being able to work alongside and form meaningful relationships with people from different cultural backgrounds is incredibly important. However there’s been a recent push to move away from cultural competence and towards cultural humility.

But what is cultural competence? What is cultural humility? How do they differ? What are examples of cultural competence and cultural humility? We’re glad you asked.

Cultural Competence vs Cultural Humility

While cultural competence and cultural humility have similar goals – to improve the quality, depth, and understanding of interactions across cultural backgrounds, there are some key differences.

Cultural Competence Definition

There are a lot of good definitions of cultural competence out there, but, for the purposes of this article, we define cultural competence as, “The ability of an individual or organization to effectively and meaningfully interact with communities, colleagues, and customers from diverse cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and practices.”

Cultural Humility Definition

According to Tervalon & Murracy-Garcia, who pioneered the term in 1998, cultural humility is, “A lifelong process of self-reflection and self-critique whereby the individual not only learns about another’s culture, but one starts with an examination of her/his own beliefs and cultural identities.

What’s The Difference Between Cultural Competence And Cultural Humility

There are a lot of similarities between cultural competence and cultural humility. Indeed, it’s clear that without the foundational work of cultural competence dating back to the 1960s, cultural humility would not exist. Furthermore, both have value. If you’ve spent the last few years learning how to be culturally competent and have only recently learned about cultural humility, you haven’t been wasting your time.

As we said above, there is a lot of overlap between the two, but the main distinguishing feature is that, in its purest form, cultural humility emphasizes the posture of forever learning by continuously reflecting on your own practices and how they might be impacting your interactions with people from different cultures. Cultural competence on the other hand communicates the message of attaining a fixed bar of proficiency.

How Do You Develop Cultural Humility?

Developing cultural humility is a three step process:

1. First of all, you have to reflect on and recognize your own cultural assumptions and biases, whether explicit or implicit.
2. Next you must learn to acknowledge and embrace the practices, norms and beliefs of various cultural groups.
3. Finally, once you’ve successfully combined the first 2 steps, you’ll be able to navigate complex situations in a way that promotes harmony by demonstrating empathy and authentic respect for cultural diversity
4. I know we said it was a three step process, but cultural humility is an ongoing commitment to learning and self improvement, as opposed to a one-and-done solution that lets you check a diversity box in your mind.

Why Is Cultural Humility So Important?

Cultural humility is important for a number of reasons, and to make it painfully obvious, it’s important because:

1. It helps us build stronger relationships with people from different backgrounds.
2. Cultural competence helps prevent, resolve, and de-escalate conflict.
3. Understanding different cultures helps us bridge gaps and communicate more effectively.
4. By tailoring services to meet a diversity of needs, cultural competence helps businesses provide a better quality of service and care.
5. In a global and diverse workplace, cultural competence fosters better collaboration, teamwork, and understanding, which often leads to increased positivity and innovation.

What Are Some Examples Of Cultural Humility?

Cultural humility can take a number of forms depending on the environment.

Cultural Humility In Healthcare

Since cultural competence and cultural humility both came to be in the context of healthcare, this felt like a good place to start:

• • Providing interpreters for those who need them.
  • Written material in patients’ preferred language.
  • Developing treatment plans that accommodate patients’ religious beliefs.
  • Ongoing cultural competency training for healthcare providers.
  • Understanding how cultural beliefs and practices can impact a patient’s perspective on a patient’s views on health, the way they make decisions, and their communication style.

Cultural Humility In Social Work

Here are a few examples of what cultural humility in social work can look like:

• • Referring a client to a mental health program that is culturally specific.
  • Advocating for a client who is dealing with workplace discrimination.
  • Providing culturally tailored interventions.
  • Engaging with community leaders and the culturally specific organizations to make sure services provided are respectful and culturally relevant.

Cultural Humility In The Workplace

• • Providing mandatory cultural competency training and/or unconscious bias.
  • Fostering an environment that encourages open communication about employees’ cultural differences.
  • Creating a product or a range of products that appeal to a diverse customer base.
  • Approaching conflict resolution with knowing that differing cultural backgrounds will influence people’s communication styles, among other things.
  • Setting a tone of continuous learning and development in relation to all things related to cultural competence.

Conclusion

Cultural humility is an incredibly rich, complex subject and this article only scratched the surface. Committing yourself and your organization to the journey of cultural humility, though intimidating, will only lead to positive outcomes. This is true for both you and for the people/communities you and your organization encounter in the not too distant future.

 

Additional Resources:

• DEI: What Is It & Benefits
• DEI Consultant, What is it, and How Much Do They Make
• DEI Strategy
• Top Consulting Firms of 2023