Initial Factor Analysis and Cross-Validation of the Multicultural Teaching Competencies Inventory

The Multicultural Teaching Competencies Inventory (MTCI) contains items based on the tri-parte model of cultural competencies established by Sue and associates (Sue et al., 1992, 1982, 2003) that identify multicultural Awareness, Knowledge, and Skill as central characteristics of a culturally sensitive professional. The development and validation of this instrument will provide a measurement tool, not currently available, to assess higher educators' cultural competency in dealing with the increasingly culturally diverse student body found in today's collegiate classroom. Exploratory factor analyses of the Sue et al. competency domain elements failed to confirm a three-factor solution in line with the Sue et al. model. Instead, a two-factor model was suggested in conceptualizing educator cultural competencies: Acquired Cultural Knowledge and Sensitivity to Student Culture. A cross-validation study of this emergent two-factor structure, using confirmatory factor analysis, indicated that this new model had an adequate fit to a second sample of MTCI data.