Cultural Competency in Coaching Flashcards
7 cards from real IAC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Cultural Competency in Coaching flashcards as text
A coach working with a first-generation immigrant client notices the client frequently apologizes before sharing opinions. The culturally informed interpretation is that this behavior:
Answer: May reflect cultural communication norms around modesty and deference rather than a deficit
Coaches must avoid pathologizing behaviors that may reflect cultural norms around modesty or deference rather than psychological deficits.
The concept of 'intersectionality' is relevant to cultural competency in coaching because it:
Answer: Recognizes that clients hold multiple overlapping identities that shape their experience
Intersectionality acknowledges that clients' experiences are shaped by multiple simultaneous identities—such as race, gender, class, and religion—that interact in complex ways.
A coach is about to begin working with a client from a culture unfamiliar to them. The MOST appropriate preparatory step is to:
Answer: Acknowledge cultural unfamiliarity and approach the client with curiosity and open questions
Entering a coaching relationship with curiosity and open inquiry is more effective and respectful than relying on generalizations that may reinforce stereotypes.
Which scenario best illustrates 'cultural transference' in a coaching relationship?
Answer: A client projecting expectations based on past authority figures from their culture onto the coach
Cultural transference occurs when clients unconsciously project culturally shaped expectations—often linked to authority, gender, or age—onto the coach.
An IAC-certified coach working with a client from a shame-based culture notices the client avoids discussing failures. The coach's most effective approach is to:
Answer: Create psychological safety by reframing failures as learning without requiring public acknowledgment
In shame-based cultures, coaches must create safety around perceived failure by reframing without forcing direct confrontation, honoring the client's cultural context.
When a client's cultural background includes fatalistic beliefs (e.g., 'what happens is God's will'), a culturally competent coach should:
Answer: Explore how the belief shapes the client's sense of agency while respecting its meaning to them
Coaches should explore how deeply held beliefs—including fatalism—influence the client's sense of agency without dismissing or challenging the belief system itself.
Which of the following is a risk of over-applying cultural generalizations in coaching?
Answer: Individual clients are stereotyped, reducing the coach's ability to see their unique experience
Over-applying cultural generalizations leads to stereotyping, which obscures each client's unique identity and undermines coaching effectiveness.