What to know

This term, widely adopted and discussed in health care settings, acknowledges that someone can never fully understand cultures and identities outside their own. A key component of cultural humility is being open about what we don’t know. As such, cultural humility is a mindset, not a goal. It is a journey of self-awareness and learning about the cultures we want to engage and communicate with. 

The concept evolved as a response to the idea of cultural competence, which called on individuals looking to engage with other cultures to acquire as much knowledge as possible about those cultures. While useful, the concept alone saw culture as static, which could lead to stereotyping rather than recognizing nuances and intersectionality. 

Cultural humility encourages individuals to be okay with not having all the answers. It emphasizes the idea that the process of making, learning from, and correcting mistakes is how authentic connections can take place.

Additional resources

• What is cultural humility? The Basics (University of Oregon, Division of Equity and Inclusion)
• Cultural humility: A concept analysis (Journal of Transcultural Nursing)
• What is cultural humility? (Psych Hub)
• Cultural Humility vs. Cultural Competence — and why providers need both (HealthCity, Boston Medical Center)