Public Statement on Cultural Competence in Evaluation

This statement of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) affirms the significance of cultural competence in evaluation . It also informs the public of AEA’s expectations concerning cultural competence in the conduct of evaluation.

The diversity of cultures within the United States guarantees that virtually
all evaluators will work outside familiar cultural contexts at some time in
their careers . Cultural competence
in evaluation theory and practice is critical for the profession and for the greater good of society . This position is consistent with the AEA Guiding Principle that states:

"To ensure recognition, accurate interpretation, and respect for diversity, evaluators should ensure that the members
of the evaluation team collectively demonstrate cultural competence."

Cultural competence is a stance taken toward culture, not a discrete status or simple mastery of particular knowledge and skills . A culturally competent evaluator is prepared to engage with diverse segments of communities to include cultural and contextual dimensions important to the evaluation . Culturally competent evaluators respect the cultures represented in the evaluation throughout the process.

Several core concepts are foundational to the pursuit of cultural competence . First, culture is central to economic, political, and social systems as well as individual identity. Thus, all evaluation reflects culturally influenced norms, values, and ways of knowing—making cultural competence integral to ethical, high- quality evaluation .

Second, given the diversity of cultures within the United States, cultural competence is fluid. An evaluator who is well prepared to work with a particular community is not necessarily competent in another .

Third, cultural competence in evaluation requires that evaluators maintain a
high degree of self-awareness and self- examination to better understand how their own backgrounds and other life experiences serve as assets or limitations in the conduct of an evaluation .

"Cultural competence is a stance taken toward culture."

Fourth, culture has implications for all phases of evaluation—including staffing, development, and implementation of evaluation efforts as well as communicating and using evaluation results .

These concepts apply to all evaluations . However, because this statement was written for a U .S . audience care should be used in employing these guidelines outside the United States .

Additional resources and library of weblinks from AEA on cultural competencies in evaluation: http://www.eval.org/culturalcompetence.asp