• Anyone looking to create innovative, collaborative, and inclusive spaces for the purpose of enhancing workplace culture with a sense of belonging, increasing productivity, and attracting and retaining top talent
• Professionals in any industry who are working in, managing and leading multicultural and diverse teams
• Human resource professionals and those who have responsibility for staff development, engagement, and retention
• Managers looking to hone their leadership skills on the world stage
• Service professionals who support diverse clients in:
  • Federal, Provincial and Municipal sectors
  • Educators and Administrators supporting international students

What is the difference between Intercultural Competency and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)?

Intercultural Competency and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) are vital in promoting understanding and inclusivity. Intercultural competence involves the skills to comprehend, communicate, and engage effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences, while fostering empathy, respect, and inclusivity.

According to Charity Village, an interculturally-competent organization is more equipped to:

• Acknowledge and support cultural differences
• Support diversity initiatives
• Attract diverse talent
• Value and engage differences
• Bridge differences and values, expectations, beliefs, and practices
• Experience improved communication
• Achieve improved decision-making, problem-solving, and performance
• Target high-return educational and policy initiatives

Intercultural competence bridges diversity and inclusion, turning cultural differences into assets for performance.

Earning a Certificate in Intercultural Competency shows employers you care about respecting potential colleagues, and could lead to a number of rewarding career paths, including:

• Role in a multi-national company
• Community worker
• Community coordinator
• Team leader
• Human resources
• Social work
• Outreach
• Training facilitator

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate self-awareness of one’s cultural norms and values and appreciation of the complexity, mutability, and variability of individuals’ cultural identities
2. Recognize commonality and differences within people and communities
3. Explain how diverse viewpoints influence relationships with others
4. Develop effective strategies to communicate respectfully with diverse audiences, both orally and in writing
5. Apply strategies to establish, interpret, and manage intercultural employee teams
6. Identify the impact of cultural structures within the workplace and between employees
7. Explain structural and systemic barriers to equity and inclusion
8. Identify strategies for combatting discrimination and promoting equity and inclusion
9. Demonstration of an awareness of ethical practices and professional standards applicable to a field of employment and/or academic study
10. Exemplification of the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours required to work and collaborate with people from different cultural backgrounds and to develop effective personal management skills

Are you a current McMaster University undergraduate student?

Explore the ElevateYourSkills option to learn how you can earn an Intercultural Competency Certificate as part of your degree.

• Use your electives to earn a professional Certificate or Diploma
• Fully online courses that you can fit into your schedule
• Providing you with real-life career skills and experience before you graduate

Learn more here.