FAQs

It is important to recognize that many years of research has been conducted to define the terms used in globalization, and that “intercultural competence,” “global competence,” and “global citizenship” all have different meanings and scope. As communication and interaction across the globe happens more readily all the time, it is important to have and to utilize clearly defined jargon to increase message clarity and interpretation.

Intercultural competence capacity is a subset of global competence, which some individuals also refer to as “global competency.” At the pinnacle of Darla Deardorff’s Pyramid Model of Intercultural Competence (2006) is the ultimate intention of treating others the way in which they wish to be treated. Interactions are cross-cultural, meaning exchanges with another culture, however the scope is not across the entire world.

“Cultural competence” is a shortened (i.e. slang) term that some individuals may use for the concept of intercultural competence.  The challenge is that, from a linguistic perspective, it only implies capability and knowledge of one culture, which is typically not the intention.  If a person’s intention is the ability to interact between or among two or more cultures, the more accurate term is intercultural competence.

Global competence, however, is a 21st Century approach and expands beyond models from the past, such as intercultural competence (1980s – 1990s) and its predecessor—emotional intelligence (1970s – 1980s), which does not include a cultural element.  Global competence is reflective of the interconnected global society and economy that we experience today, and it implies the ability to interact effectively with cultures around the world. It includes all components of intercultural competence, as well as additional dimensions such as Self-Awareness, Risk Taking, Global Awareness, Historical Perspective, and Collaboration Across Cultures. As a model of competence should not include another dimension of “competence,” the Global Competence Model™ uses the variant “Intercultural Capability” to reflect intercultural competence and avoid confusion.

Global citizenship imparts a new layer of complexity, and since “global” is part of both terms, it is critical to use the appropriate term to communicate one’s intentions. Global citizenship is a broad term that encompasses the humanitarian component of taking care of the world and its inhabitants. Global issues such as the environment, world hunger and famine, the spread of HIV/AIDS, the availability of clean water, social justices, etc. are all significant causes that warrant the attention of all citizens of the world. Addressing these important matters is a step beyond global competence and often requires additional skills. Therefore, global competence is not global citizenship, however, to be a global citizen, one DOES need to be globally competent.

There are several key distinctions between the GCAA® and other instruments. While other assessments may claim to measure global competence or related capabilities, they are not capturing all the dimensions identified in the research and presented in the Global Competence Model™. The GCAA® is the only instrument that rigorously measures all the dimensions of global competence, as intended by the researchers and reported in refereed journals worldwide.

In addition, the GCAA® is one of the most widely researched assessments in the world, as it has been researched in more than 115 countries across six (6) continents. The GCAA® also measures students against the same criteria that workers are measured, so it is a practical measurement of global readiness growth from secondary school to college and university education and throughout a person’s entire professional career.

The GCAA® is far more insightful and revealing than many assessments that use question repetition or mere self-appraisal, which produce biased results due to participants’ personal motivations, fears of judgement, or cultural values. The assessment challenges participants with a wide range of question styles, and most importantly, requires thinking on one’s feet, not just static responses.

Scoring is immediate, and the GCAA® provides an extensive individual Interpretive Profile Report spanning the Internal and External Readiness aptitudes for global competence. The report also includes definitions of all dimensions, scoring and interpretation of the findings, as well as developmental resource suggestions to support growth. Since the participant receives the report directly, there is no costly overhead necessary for training assessment administrators to personally deliver feedback. (If a participant has the resources and access to attend a training session or use a coach, the development professional can instead focus attention on growth areas and targeted improvement.) The report clearly delineates an individual’s strengths and growth opportunities across each of the eight components of global competence (which may also be referred to as “global competency”) in understandable terms for personal improvement.

You receive scoring immediately after the assessment is completed online. The participant Interpretive Profile Report is personalized, and it also includes developmental resources to help enhance global competence aptitude. Group metrics are provided immediately as well. We provide real-time detailed aggregate group scoring and participation activity intelligence as soon as the participants complete the GCAA®.

We provide real-time group reporting. Participants can be organized into groups and subsets that are useful to you (e.g. department, function, class, college, program, etc.). We can provide a variety of comprehensive reports at the group and participant levels, as desired. Individual participant scoring for each of the dimensions of global competence (8 scores) and the overall scores for Internal Readiness and External Readiness (2 scores) are provided in real-time. We can also provide norm comparisons against target peer groups, as well as in-depth intelligence regarding the demographic drivers to performance, as desired.

We sell the GCAA® to groups only and our minimum group order is for 10 assessments (or 25 assessments for educational applications).