Cultural competence is extremely important; especially, considering how interconnected the world is becoming. It is rare to find individuals who have not had any significant contact or relationship with someone from a culture other than their own. Therefore, having at least a basic understanding of other cultures is necessary to develop connections with those around you. In addition, a lack of cultural competence is quickly becoming frowned upon. For instance, most high-profile careers will require some form of international travel, or communication with someone from a different. As a result, an employee with low cultural competence would probably be unsuccessful in such workplaces.
While cultural competence is becoming important in the world, the ability for individuals to gain or improve upon their cultural competence is more present in society than ever before. Social media and networking sites, television, music, and growing the number of immigrants in Western nations has contributed to an increase in regions of the world where cultural competence was not important decades ago. Considering the growth of culture competence, it will be interesting to see how culturally aware the global population will be in future years and decades.
