Students are looking at a future that will present problems that require global solutions that come from intercultural teams. Educational institutions across Canada are aspiring to graduate students who are equipped to navigate a rapidly-evolving global landscape that positions them well towards identifying and solving these global problems. Students from international backgrounds enrich our campuses with their diverse cultures, ideas, values and traditions. As part of the international education community, we interact with organizations globally. With almost every region developing more of a global workforce, organizations strategizing to develop a global presence, and a greater significance to anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion, there is a growing need to develop intercultural effectiveness. Even today, while much of our interaction is remote, it does not take away from the fact that we are working with a complex mix of diverse people and different cultures. The convergence of these realities require well-developed intercultural competencies for successful engagement with our stakeholders.
This workshop will introduce the Cultural Intelligence (CQ) model for developing intercultural competencies. CQ is a globally recognized way of assessing and improving effectiveness in culturally-diverse situations. The capability to be effective in these diverse intercultural settings is a key contributor to successfully navigating the 21st century globalized professional workplace. The intent of sharing this model with the larger community is to develop knowledge capital on how we, as a community, can develop our intercultural effectiveness, and thereby, advance institutional and personal goals.
Contact information: Shabnam Ivkovic sivkovic@uwaterloo.ca; Binuki De Silva ceedco03@uwaterloo.ca