An evaluation of undergraduate public administration programs at Turkish Universities: Reviewing the literature and proposing a model of cultural competence development

Abstract

This study aims to identify the main predictors of cultural competence (CC). In the study, the cultural competence of the public administration students was analyzed. A total of 599 public administration students from twenty public and two foundation universities in eighteen different provinces of Turkey responded to a survey. The questionnaire survey was derived from a literature review; validated by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The study proposes a CC evaluation model with five principal attributes: political awareness, civic action, belief in collective action, social justice attitudes, and ethical leadership. Accordingly, the model included 29 items that address all aspects of cultural competence. The model can be used to evaluate the CC level of public administration students. Besides, this model can also be applied in public organizations to evaluate their responsiveness to the public. Because public institutions today are supposed to be responsive to the cultural needs of citizens.