Increasing Cultural Responsiveness Among University Faculty Through Cultural Intelligence Training

In this mixed-methods action research study, I guided a small cohort of university faculty members through a semester-long professional development program to learn strategies for creating more inclusive environments for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. During the program, and guided by my original, reconceptualized framework of Cultural Intelligence (CI), faculty sought to implement culturally responsive behaviors to demonstrate inclusion in teaching, classroom environments, or materials. To understand these behaviors in detail, faculty used an Innovation Configuration (IC) Map I developed over several research cycles. During this final cycle, I ascertained how well the IC Map helped faculty participants demonstrate CI via the three Cultural Capabilities of Cultural Openness, Cultural Awareness, and Cultural Responsiveness, to promote the outcomes of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Using document analyses, surveys, observations, and focus group discussions, I determined that faculty benefited from the program in building community and understanding better how to practically apply CI for CLD student inclusion, particularly as it related to demonstrating Cultural Responsiveness in teaching and classroom environments. Faculty reported a nearly unanimous need for greater Cultural Awareness in creating more responsive materials for not just CLD, but all, student success. Faculty consistently agreed on the relevancy of such professional development initiatives in helping them achieve DEI-related outcomes.