Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Vol 18(3), Aug 2024, 204-212; doi:10.1037/tep0000460
While it is an ethical imperative to provide multiculturally competent training, training programs vary widely in implementation. Further, the empirical evidence assessing the effectiveness of multiculturally competent training is limited. This study adds to the literature by describing a multicultural curriculum grounded in multicultural competence and providing empirical data assessing the curriculum. Our multicultural curriculum is implemented in a psychology-based counseling program and was assessed in 2010–2019, whereby 95 students completed self-report measures of awareness and knowledge as well as an evaluative assessment of multicultural competence. The measures were completed before engaging in the curriculum and repeated once they completed the curriculum. Findings indicate that the curriculum was associated with growth in self-reported awareness and knowledge but not growth in multicultural competence knowledge evaluated by a standardized test. Our clinical skills course with an accompanying self-awareness curriculum was associated with greater changes in self-reported awareness than any other element of our curriculum. Additional analyses suggest that baseline self-reported knowledge could be an impediment to gains in self-reported awareness. The results underscore the importance of combined awareness and skill development for continuous learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)