A cultural humility approach

Over the past year, I’ve been collaborating with colleagues across the College community to develop our first Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy. This builds on the foundation laid by our Workplace Wellness strategy and reflects our commitment to fostering an authentically inclusive culture. We’ve identified four key objectives as central to our EDI work:

• Education and awareness.
• Community culture and engagement.
• Volunteer and Member development.
• Recruitment, progression and retention.

Our first objective – education and awareness – is something we believe to be the foundation of any successful and sustainable cultural change within an organisation. When we conceptualise EDI as education as opposed to compliance, we foreground its potential to foster critical engagement, systemic awareness and personal transformation. Without such an approach, our colleagues and Members cannot be fully empowered to actively participate in the creation of an equitable and inclusive environment.

One of the most impactful ways we have enacted EDI as education is through our Cultural Humility training, a one-day session that fosters open discussions, active reflection and a commitment to action. Initially delivered to staff, the training has recently been extended to members of our RSA network.

Cultural Humility, a concept introduced by Tervalon and Murray-Garcia in 1998, emerged as a response to persistent inequities in healthcare, making it a fitting framework for our College’s EDI initiatives. Unlike cultural competence, which has been criticised for reducing cultural understanding to a checklist of knowledge acquisition and its tendency to stereotype groups¹, Cultural Humility promotes:

• Lifelong self-reflection and an acknowledgment of power imbalances.
• Genuine engagement with others’ perspectives as equals, avoiding assumptions of cultural expertise.
• Ongoing self-awareness and a willingness to learn from diverse lived experiences.

This approach underpins our mission to build an inclusive culture in the College. As the facilitator of Cultural Humility training, I emphasise that everyone brings their own culture(s) into every interaction. Recognising this is essential for understanding how our cultural lenses shape our perceptions, values, behaviour
and relationships.

Those of you who have participated in our training will know I often discuss the importance of operating in the ‘grey space’. This allows us to move beyond rigid binaries of right and wrong, encouraging an embrace of intersectional perspectives and diverse experiences. It is in this space of nuance and dialogue that transformative learning occurs. 

EDI challenges, like achieving gender equity, demand more than just organisational commitments. They require intentional, ongoing education that equips colleagues
and Members to challenge entrenched attitudes and behaviour. Without the time and space for dialogue and reflection, even our most well-intentioned statements risk becoming hollow. Gender equity is a pressing issue in society, and the College has the responsibility to lead change. By creating shared understanding and fostering active allyship, we aim to embed inclusivity into the heart of our culture. 

Reference

1. Fisher-Borne M, Cain JM, Martin SL. From mastery to accountability: cultural humility as an alternative to cultural competence. Soc Work Educ. 2015; 34(2): 165–181