The relationship between multicultural competence and white racial consciousness among student affairs practitioners

Researchers investigated the relationship between multicultural competence and racial consciousness of 534 White student affairs practitioners using the Multicultural Competence for Student Affairs-Preliminary 2 Scale (Pope & Mueller, 2000) and the Oklahoma Racial Attitudes Scale-Preliminary Form (Choney & Behrens, 1996). Experience with multicultural issues and identification with a socially oppressed group were among background variables significantly related to multicultural competence. When background variables were statistically controlled for, White racial consciousness types predicted a significant amount of the variance in multicultural competence. Implications for professional preparation, practice, and future research are explored.