Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs (review)

Over the past two decades, much has been written about the influence of diverse populations on higher education, yet few researchers have considered the competence of administrators to deal with that diversity. Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs deals with just this issue: the individual competence of administrators to deal with diverse populations. The authors state that the book's goals are to: (a) provide a model of competencies for practitioners, (b) expand the literature in counseling psychology by applying this literature base to the student affairs field, and (c) provide examples of effective practices and case studies to help practitioners understand the application of these competencies. While the authors state that their audience is student affairs and higher education professionals, the book is written with a strong leaning toward the student affairs culture and literature.

The first part of this book focuses on the authors' model of multicultural competence and the core competencies needed to be an effective student affairs practitioner. The core of this work on multicultural competence is based on the literature in counseling psychology that focuses on the awareness, knowledge, and skills that counselors must have to work with diverse populations.

The Dynamic Model of Student Affairs Competence integrates the need for multicultural competence into the competencies needed to be an effective and ethical practitioner. The model is not meant to be used to measure multicultural competence; rather, it is a tool for self-reflection and personal assessment. Each chapter in Part 1 elaborates on the multicultural competence needed within the different student affairs competencies. In addition to multicultural competence, the chapters cover theory and translation, administration and management, helping and advising, assessment and research, ethnics and professional standards, and teaching and learning.

Part 2 focuses on the research done on multicultural competence. In this section, Pope, Reynolds, and Mueller review the literature from counseling psychology and the results of studies they conducted using student affairs practitioners and graduate students. The authors have completed studies on a measurement tool oriented toward student affairs practitioners.

While this section is interesting and provides much information about what has been attempted, the authors acknowledge the need to conduct more research, including further construct validity studies. They identify two weakness in the research. First, so far the items used in scales have fallen into one construct (general multicultural competence), instead of distinguishing among awareness, knowledge, and skills. Second, the sample sizes for the validation studies have been relatively small.

Chapter 9 in Part 2 includes seven case studies that are good teaching tools for discussion, for helping students understand the need for multicultural competence, and for providing insights into the application of multicultural competencies in the higher education context.

The book seems to complement textbooks presently used in student affairs introductory courses or diverse college student courses. Its strengths are the clear application to practice and the focus on competencies. The extensive literature review focuses on the competencies valued in student affairs practice. Administrators can use the book to discuss the level of competency among their staff members and how to enhance multicultural competence within their institutional context. The strong focus on practice makes the book a little more applicable to master's level courses or a few practice-oriented doctoral courses.

One strength may also be a limitation. The chapters seem to be written as self-contained pieces, which allows for the use of individual chapters in the classroom or for staff development activities. This convenience, however, results in repetitive information in the chapters.

A more significant weakness is that the book provides insight into the competencies practitioners should have but little information on how to gain them. For this reason, the book should complement other books with information about diverse populations.

For readers who have little knowledge of multicultural competence, this book is a "must read." For readers who have some knowledge, the book is a summary of the research and foundation of the construct of multicultural competence in student...