The document discusses the importance of cultural competency in educational advising, emphasizing the need to understand and support families from diverse cultural backgrounds while recognizing implicit biases that may affect communication. It includes case studies demonstrating effective approaches in advising first-generation college students and addresses misconceptions about their backgrounds and challenges. The document outlines key pillars for building cultural competency, such as knowledge, attitude, and skills, to improve interactions with families and enhance overall service quality.

1. Cultural
Competency
in Educational
Advising
Kazue McGregor, M.M. Certified Educational Planner
© Exploring College Choices, LLC, 2022

2. What Is
Culture?
• Culture refers to the behaviors, language,
customs, arts, morals, knowledge and beliefs of a
particular group of people.
• This group could be of a national, racial, ethnic,
religious, geographic, age-related, or other social
nature.
• Not all individuals within any group can be
defined by that group’s perceived culture norms.

3. What does
implicit or
unconscious
bias mean?
• When you make decisions and take actions
imposing YOUR understanding of a group’s
culture on an individual that you believe falls
within that group
• We all have hidden biases (both favorable and
unfavorable) that influence our behavior.
• Nobody is immune from implicit bias; but there
are things we can be mindful of to improve the
service to our families.

4. Cultural Differences
Failing to
understand cultural
differences can
create unintended
confusion and
misunderstandings
Your innocent
remarks or actions
unintentionally
insult or anger a
family from a
different culture
Cause
misunderstandings
and create barriers
to delivering correct
information
Arouse suspicion of
Western attitudes
and resistance to
following your
advice
Cause families from
certain cultures to
hesitate to ask
questions even when
they don’t understand
what you’ve told them

5. Cultural competency is the
ability of educational
consultants to effectively
deliver services that meet our
families’ social, cultural and
linguistic needs
Provide understanding and
support to our families based
on racial, ethnic and cultural
backgrounds
Improve the quality of our
services
Show families that you truly
care and they're likely to
share their experience with
other families
Provide superior service to
families of different cultural
backgrounds.
What does Cultural Competency Look Like
In Educational Advising?

6. First
Generation
Student
A formal definition of a first-generation college
student is a student whose parent(s) did not
complete a four-year college or university degree.
Yet there are nuances…..What about postsecondary
experiences of extended family members, older
siblings and/or important adults in their lives?

7. Case Study:
Rachel
Rachel, a senior in high school, was accepted to a highly
selective, private 4-year liberal arts college with substantial
merit and need-based aid, the first and only child in her
family to attend a college in the US. Although her parents
attended university in Columbia, her father was working as a
janitor and her mother was a homemaker. After moving to
the US six years earlier, their English was still limited, and
Rachel served as a primary interpreter. They wanted her to
live at home and not attend this college located 40 miles
away from home.

8. How Would
You Approach
This Family?

9. How Would
You Approach
This Family?
Work with the school counselor
Find a trusted adult who could act as an
interpreter
Ask what their concerns are – and listen
Explain the value of a small liberal arts
college
Explain what is residential life and what
Rachel would gain by living on campus
Develop trust

10. Case Study:
Rachel
Outcome
• The college advisor first met with both parents and then
separately for tea with the mother to build a trusting
relationship. She listened.
• Next the advisor visited the college campus with them
meeting school officials to help in communicating school
safety information and the financial aid process. After
having their questions answered, the parents finally felt
safe in sending Rachel to this small, selective college.
• Rachel attended the college with her parents’ full
support graduating in 4 years with honors in economics.
She is now employed by a successful management
consulting firm near her parents’ home.

11. Misconceptions about First-Gen Students
(Sarah Whitley, Senior Director, Center for First-generation Student Success)
1
MYTH: All first-
generation students
are low income.
FACT: About 40-50%
are low-income but
not all first-generation
students are low
income.
2
MYTH: All first-
generation students
are non-white.
FACT: Not all first-
generation students
are from a minority
racial or ethnic
background.
3
MYTH: They are not
academically
prepared.
FACT: Many first-
generation students
are incredibly bright
and resilient and bring
rich experiences and
contributions in the
classroom.
4
MYTH: They don’t
have supportive
families, that their
parents didn’t want
them to go to college,
or that they’re angry
with them about
going.
FACT: In reality, there
is a wide spectrum.

12. Center for First-
Generation Student
Success
https://firstgen.naspa.org/blog/defining-first-
generation
The term “first-generation” implies the possibility that a
student may lack the critical cultural capital necessary for
college success because their parents did not attend
college.
It is a challenge for all students to navigate the tangled
web of college policies, procedures, jargon, and
expectations but particularly for first-generation students.
This “hidden curriculum” can damage the confidence of
first-generation students, leading to struggles in
belonging, and resulting in dropping out of school.
This opens an opportunity for advisors and institutions to
provide additional support for these students so they may
be as competitive and successful as their peers.

13. Asian-
American and
Pacific
Islanders
(AAPI)
AAPI college students experience a number of stressors such as
racial discrimination and pressures to conform to stereotypes.
AAPI college students are the least likely racial/ethnic group to seek
out mental health services because of culturally-specific stigma and
other structural barriers. Due to the effects of stigma associated
with mental illness in their community, the Asian American families
deal with mental illness within the confines of the family unit and
are reluctant to seek the help of mental health professionals.

14. Asian-American and
Pacific Islander (AAPI)
Studies
AAPI students make up over 50 different
ethnic groups, but AAPI students are often
left out of conversations when speaking of
students of color and are seldom
recognized in academic research.
(Postsecondary National Policy Institute in 2021)
In 2018, of the approximately 22.6 million
Asian-Americans living in the US, the top
four subgroups were Chinese, Asian
Indian, Filipino and Vietnamese. Korean
and Japanese comprised the next highest
subgroup.
The newer wave of Asian immigrants and
refugees from Southeast Asia comprised
13% of the population. Native Hawaiian
and Pacific Islander groups made up less
than 1% of the U.S. population. (2018
American Community Survey)
https://medium.com/national-center-for-institutional-
diversity/addressing-asian-american-pacific-islander-college-students-
mental-health-needs-4413a55f49b7

15. Asian-American and
Pacific Islander (AAPI)
Studies
Amidst increasing reports of anti-Asian hate crimes, the Steve
Fund and the National Center for Institutional
Diversity convened a group of experts in AAPI history, college
students and mental health experts in May 2021.
They made recommendations to address the misunderstood
needs, and historical and sociocultural understanding of AAPI
communities in the U.S.
https://medium.com/national-center-for-institutional-
diversity/addressing-asian-american-pacific-islander-college-
students-mental-health-needs-4413a55f49b7

16. Case Study:
David
Filipino-American parents never disclosed to David’s public school
officials that he was diagnosed with high functioning autism in
kindergarten. Their cultural stigma prevented them from disclosing
this fact to families and friends. Throughout his school life, he did
not receive any accommodations which he was entitled to under
the federal act ensuring access to special educational for eligible
children with disabilities. David was a bright student but struggled
daily spending 6 hours a day on his high school assignments. He
had maintained a 3.0 GPA but now as a junior, he was struggling in
his classes and displaying occasional, violent behavior. They
believed he was lazy and they argued with him constantly. With
college ahead, his parents sought an independent college advisor.

17. How Would
You Approach
This Family?

18. How Would
You Approach
This Family?
Understand the stigma associated
with mental illness in Asian
communities and the reluctance to
seek help outside the family unit
Meet the parents, listen and explain
about accommodations available to
David both in high school and in
college
Work with the school counselor
Provide information on mental
health support for both David and
the family

19. Case Study:
David
Outcome
• The college advisor spoke to the parents many times to explain the federal
act and the importance of demonstrating a history of learning disability
support during high school to become eligible for similar programs in
college.
• The parents overcame their shame and fear of stigma and worked out a
504 plan with the school. In addition, they were able to receive weekly in-
home family therapy. But it was too little, too late. Even though David was
admitted to a highly selective 4-year research university, he did not seek
support nor graduate, and is currently employed in an entry level job.
• Joy, his younger sister, benefitted the most, however, from the family
therapy sessions. Having seen their value and the improved family
relationships, she is now attending a 4-year university majoring in
Psychology with the goal of helping Filipino-American families.

20. Misconceptions about Asian-American Students
1
MYTH: Asian Americans
are all the same.
FACT: There is wide
variation among the
various ethnic
subpopulations with the
Asian American
community.
2
MYTH: Asian American students
are not really underrepresented
racial minorities, do not
struggle academically, and are
not educationally
disadvantaged.
FACT: Asian American college
students experience a number
of stressors such as racial
discrimination, pressures to
conform to stereotypes, and
struggles with navigating
multiple cultures.
3
MYTH: Asian American
students are more
successful academically
and professionally.
FACT: Certain ethnic
subgroups within the
Asian American
community hold high
school graduation and
college degree rates far
below the national
average.

21. How Does Cultural
Competency
Influence The
Working Relationship
With Families?
How families present their problems,
situations, and information to you
How education and the college
admission process are perceived
Behaviors of clients seeking your
services and their attitudes toward you
Different family and personal belief
systems
How families respond to your advice
and service plans

22. Pillars to Build
Cultural
Competency
• KNOWLEDGE Seek information on shared
traditions and values of each cultural group
• ATTITUDE Develop a level of awareness in
yourself and your clients with respect to
stereotypes, rules of interaction and
communication customs
• SKILLS Develop a skill set to increase your
cultural competency, such as focusing on
communication and conflict resolution

23. Practice
Cultural
Competence
• Cultural competence requires consistency and practice
• Ask questions and learn what answers mean in different
cultures
• Use clear, descriptive communication
• Keep an open mind
• Be aware of situations in which you may portray a lack of
sensitivity
• Seek out colleagues and peers of different cultures to
learn more about interacting and respecting differences

24. Key Take-
Away
Your level of cultural awareness and
mindfulness of your own implicit biases help
you modify your behaviors to respond to the
needs of others while maintaining a
professional level of respect, objectivity and
identity.

25. Resources
NACAC Guiding the Way to Inclusion, (future conferences)
https://www.nacacnet.org/professional-development/guiding-the-way-to-inclusion
The National Education Association
https://www.nea.org/
Higher Education Consultants Association Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Institute (future events)
https://hecaonline.org/page-1861097
Independent Educational Consultants Association Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Intensive (future events)
https://www.iecaonline.com/dei-educational-intensive/
Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do - Jennifer L. Eberhardt (2020)
Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People - Mahzarin R. Banaji & Anthony G. Greenwald (2013)
Gaining Cultural Competence in Career Counseling, 2nd Edition – K.M. Evans & A.L. Sejuit (2021), National
Career Development Association
Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias - Pragya Agarwal (2021)
The Leader’s Guide to Unconscious Bias: How To Reframe Bias, Cultivate Connection, and Create High-
Performing Teams – Pamela Fuller, Mark Murphy, Anne Chow (2020)
© Exploring College Choices, LLC, 2022