Abstract:
Multicultural Competences of higher education leaders refer directly
to the multicultural knowledge, attitudes and skills of the leaders which is the
focus of the present study. The demographic changes and the subsequent
diversity in Ethiopian HEIs strongly demands the HEIs to be multiculturally
competent, their leaders should in turn have the necessary multicultural
competencies. In line with this, the multicultural competences of the
educational leaders of Ethiopian public universities were investigated. The
mixed-methods research approach was used in the study, including semistructured interviews and questionnaires. Academic and administrative
officials, office workers and teachers were included in the study as sources
of data. Multi-stage, simple random and purposive sampling techniques were
employed to select 316 participants for the study. Inferential statistics
including mean, standard division, t-tests and one-way ANOVA were
used to analyze the quantitative data. The university leaders, academic
and administrative staff did not have a considered perspective on pluralism.
In addition, there were limited spaces and opportunities for the staff to
develop skills and experience in the management of difference as an
important aspect of their work and with their interaction with other members
of the university community. The staff associations were weak and poorly
equipped to provide or promote opportunities for skills development in the
management of diversity. Lecturers did not generally receive any preparation
on managing within a multicultural setting. The findings confirm the position
that the need to prepare university leaders with multicultural knowledge,
skills, and dispositions. It is imperative that university leadership adopt
multicultural competence as an essential competency within their profession,
continue to seek out opportunities to further enhance personal multicultural
competence, and infuse it into their daily practices
