During this study, an attempt was made to explore the opinions and attitudes of members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) towards issues of diversity before, immediately after and three months after participating in diversity training workshops presented by the SAPS Training Division during 1997 in Port Elizabeth. The aim of this thesis was not to assess the diversity training itself, but to discover if the training, as currently presented, in any way influenced the attitudes of participants. In order to meet this goal, literature and empirical studies were conducted. The literature study sets the theoretical foundation pertaining to the history of the SAPS and the attitudes and prejudices of and diversity among SAPS members. During the empirical research phase, a non-probability purposive sampling procedure was adopted. Four of a range of diversity workshops presented by the Training Division of the SAPS during 1997 were selected for the purpose of this study. An internal SAPS process was used to nominate members to attend the workshops. The researcher requested the participants in each of the four workshops to complete a self-administered questionnaire before as well as after the workshop concerned. Immediately after each of the four workshops, a short interview was held with each attendee. To explore the stability of any change evident from responses on the questionnaires completed after the workshops, the attendees were again requested to complete the same questionnaire three months later. To increase the validity of any conclusion that attitudinal change was related to the workshop, a control group was used. This study has revealed that a cross-spectrum of SAPS members of both sexes and diverse racial backgrounds believe that various forms of discrimination exist within the SAPS. It confirmed that the diversity training presented by the SAPS Training Division is a useful instrument to heighten members' awareness of the different norms and customs of other cultural/ethnic groups and of the necessity that the SAPS should be constituted of a cross-spectrum of racial groups reflecting the South African society. Finally, based on the research findings, recommendations were made involving management and its supportive services and diversity training.

This study works with Rotary Youth Exchange to investigate the role of predeparture intercultural training in preparing students to study abroad so that they 5 positively integrate their experience to become interculturally competent people. The Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) along with an intercultural background survey were administered to each student during the first one to four months of his or her exchange to measure his or her intercultural competency development and to learn li about the student's intercultural background. Developing explicit evidence for the role of intercultural training through this study proved unsuccessful because of the students' Jack of knowledge about the subject. However, through analysis of students' answers to decipher the quality of training received and comparing that information to the students' IES scores, the vital role of intercultural training in predeparture orientation is implied.

The purpose of this study was to investigate cultural diversity training practices and to determine the deterrence factors associated instituting cultural diversity training. It attempted to measure the overall effectiveness of cultural diversity training in franchise restaurants. A total of 300 franchise restaurants were surveyed. Three practicing and fifty-eight non-practicing cultural diversity training companies participated in the study. The findings indicated that high turnover rates of employees were the most important deterrence factor in developing and using cultural diversity training programs in the franchise restaurants studied .. Respondents reported that such training was more successful in improving interpersonal skills for cross-cultural interactions than in enhancing performance of inter-cultural job tasks and decreasing perceptions and attitudes about culturally diverse people. / Master of Science

This thesis investigated the success of global awareness co,curricular programming as a tool for increasing intercultural knowledge at a liberal arts college. The study asked the following question: do internationally themed campus-wide events increase student interest in, and appreciation of, difference? Students in this study were involved in two activities: a semester-long series of South Asian themed events (the Wooster Forum and the Forum Auxiliary Events) and the First Year Seminar in Critical Inquiry (FYS). Two sections ofFYS had themes related to that of the Wooster Forum while the other two did not. Levels of student openness to difference and intercultural awareness were measured by the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (Kozai, 2009a) both before and after exposure to the events of the Wooster Forum. An additional institutionally designed questionnaire was also administered to determine students' participation in the events and to allow them to share their perspectives of the programming offered. Results indicated that the majority of students at the start of the study demonstrated a lack of interest in and awareness of the differences that exist between cultures. At the end of study, those students in sections of FYS without strong links to the theme of the Wooster Forum showed greater movement on the elements of the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale that indicate intercultural openness than the students in sections with close links. Surprisingly, this movement was likely to be negative. Survey results revealed the importance of both friendship groups and the perception of fun as students decided which events in which to participate. Both instruments indicated the need for clear context setting for each event, and for opportunities for structured - ~ reflection and discussion in order to maximize intercultural learning. The study concluded with recommendations regarding future global awareness programming in this specific institutional context

Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the Masters Degree of Technology: Public Relations Management, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / Globalization is impacting on education worldwide. As a result, the University of KwaZulu- Natal (UKZN), like other universities worldwide, have identified an opportunity to increase their profit margins by expanding their marketing initiatives internationally in order to recruit foreign students. The purpose of conducting this study was to investigate the sustainability of UKZN’s Student Exchange Programme in an increasingly competitive industry. The rationale behind the research is that communication challenges between UKZN, International Partner Universities and students, are threatening the overall success of the student exchange programme, with partners threatening to reduce their student exchange numbers. This rationale was tested via primary research in the form of a questionnaire distributed to international partner universities, who then randomly selected a target sample from students who had recently returned from a UKZN student exchange. Interviews were also conducted with a smaller sample and secondary research, in the form of a literature review of previous research findings and theoretical perspectives, was conducted. The sample comprised of ninety nine international students from first-world countries, who participated in a student exchange to UKZN. Respondent profiles included both male and female second-year tertiary respondents, from the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA). The major findings of the investigation revealed that the majority of respondents agreed that communication challenges at UKZN posed a credible threat to the future success of the exchange programme. UKZN should, therefore, focus on implementing long and short-term communication’s strategies. The research also found that, by addressing international concerns through the training and development of student exchange officers, will help equip officers to deal with a continually changing international relations’ climate.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005. / "A dissertation in urban leadership and policy studies in education and education." Advisor: Stuart A. McAninch. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed June 23, 2006. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 236-262). Online version of the print edition.

This research project examined the effects of participation in a six-month global service-learning program in the intercultural development of a group of students. The students under consideration herein participated in the 2009 program year of the Grace University EDGE Program, which took place in Mali, West Africa. The present research builds on and contributes to three primary areas of research: intercultural development, service-learning, and study abroad. As the literature in these areas revealed the lack of a consistent way to assess global service-learning, I tried a three-part method of assessment. First, the Intercultural Development Inventory formally measured growth in intercultural competence. Second, guided course-writing generated by the students was used to facilitate followup interviews of most participants, especially considering the intersections between IDI results and students' self-perceptions as reported in their papers. Third, the interviews were coded and explored for information related to the process of intercultural development. The participants, overall, demonstrated positive intercultural competence gains while undergoing a complex process involving the impetus for and experience of development, ultimately resulting in changed patterns of thought.

Understanding the factors responsible for successful interactions between cultures has been an ongoing investigation among anthropologists, social workers, and organizational psychologists. The need for employees who are able to function effectively across cultures has resulted in a great deal of research examining which factors enable expatriate effectiveness. Despite the necessity of a workforce that is able to function across cultures in today’s global economy, an even greater case can be made for cross-cultural competence (3C) in the U.S. military. The potential for loss of life and international-level consequences is high if our military forces are not adequately prepared. This is why the Department of Defense has identified 3C as a critical determinant of success for military missions. Despite the critical need for military 3C, a review of the literature found no validated instruments developed to assess the readiness of our troops to work closely with foreign nationals and coalition forces in the context of military deployments. As such, the overarching goal of this validation study was to enable the U.S. military to prepare and train its forces in 3C, specifically allowing the military to: (1) better assess troop readiness to engage other cultures; (2) target training to those skills that help achieve missions in the field; (3) design more authentic cross-cultural training exercises; (4) assess the effectiveness of crosscultural training; and (5) guide the development of future cultural training efforts. To that end, a blended approach to scale development was undertaken, whereby critical-incident interviews with subject matter experts informed which of the individual difference predictors from the civilian literatures would likely be applicable to the military domain. Initial administration of the prototype instrument to 792 military members, followed by exploratory factor analysis, revealed six hypothesized factors of 3C. Following scale development, the Cross-Cultural Competence iv Inventory (3CI) was administered to almost 5,000 service members, and the six-factor structure was confirmed as well as cross-validated. Another data collection effort focused on assessing the stability of the six factors over time, via test-retest reliability analysis. A final validation study revealed Cultural Exploration to be a significant predictor of three of the four performance criteria, as rated by supervisors on deployment. Furthermore, this study offered the unique perspective gained by administering two popular civilian instruments along with a military-based tool, providing insight into the nature of military 3C and the ways in which it is similar to, and distinct from, civilian 3C. Additionally, important theoretical contributions may help guide future empirical research and military applications. This study is the initial step in assessing readiness for cultural interaction in the military. The results may serve to guide future efforts in military research in order to support our forces in the field as well as to guide the military establishment in making decisions on training, education, and operations in the context of mission success.

The purpose of this study was to measure the social workers' knowledge, awareness, sensitivity, and ability to serve the population of color.

The purpose of this project was to develop a website to relieve Korean returnees' reverse culture shock and help their re-adaptation process. A website can be an outstanding resource for returnees in terms of accessibility because the target audiences are scattered all over the world.