Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Cultural Competence: An Interpretive Analysis for Cultural Competence of Federal Departments’ Strategic Plans

The history of the United States is rooted in differences and actions that has culminated in the current reality of culturally incompetent behaviors with a lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion prevailing in organizations and society. Through a cultural competence conceptual framework, this research highlighted an action-oriented approach for organizations seeking to engage in efforts to support and integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion.
To conduct this research, I developed a cultural competence conceptual framework with eight types of initiatives derived from the scholarly literature on diversity, equity, inclusion, and cultural competence. The types of initiatives point to organizational efforts to engage in developmental and action-oriented strategies that: facilitate leadership engagement, sensitivity, and responsiveness to diversity, equity, and inclusion; specify strategic and operational goals; incorporate cultural awareness and sensitivity in policies, practices, programs, and procedures; integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into human resource management to build a diverse and representative workforce; cultivate a supportive, inclusive, and equitable organizational culture/climate; reinforce and sustain a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; employ sensitive and inclusive communications; and implement targeted training and professional development on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The cultural competence framework presented ways for organizations to actively engage in setting action-oriented goals targeting ingrained, systemic, and institutionalized disparities.