Intercultural Development Inventory

The Intercultural Development Inventory is a tool that assesses intercultural competence, defined as the capability to shift cultural perspective and appropriately adapt behavior to cultural difference and commonalities. Items on the IDI assessment are “culture-general” and do not refer to the culture of any specific community, ethnicity, group, etc. The IDI is used across a range of industries to engage individuals, groups, and organizations in understanding their approach to cultural differences. The IDI is widely used in higher education with faculty, staff, and students for a variety of programs including faculty and staff development; student assessment and development; and study abroad and other programming.

According to IDI, LLC, this tool is a cross-culturally valid and reliable assessment of intercultural competence. Because the items in the IDI have been found to have no cultural bias, the IDI is used in every sector across a wide range of demographics. The extensive psychometric validation protocols used in developing the IDI are described in greater detail in a variety of publications and independent reviews. These publications and independent reviews also provide information regarding the multiple research studies that have been conducted validating the IDI.

In brief, the IDI process involves these steps:

1. Complete a 50-item online assessment (15-20 minutes).
2. Schedule a debrief meeting (individual or group), a required component of the IDI assessment.
3. Shortly before the debrief meeting, receive your individual results and your IDI Plan.
4. Participate in a group debrief or a confidential, one-on-one individual debrief during which you will interpret your results and review the provided IDI Plan.
5. Work through your individualized plan in the months that follow as you develop your intercultural competence.

Carol Goss and Stacy Hoult, both of whom are licensed by IDI, LLC, are currently the two individuals at Valpo who can administer the IDI assessment. Both have completed the IDI Qualifying Seminar training; they also participate in ongoing training provided by IDI, LLC. Each are licensed by the IDI, LLC as a “Qualified Administrator,” or “QA.” At Valpo, we use the term “IDI Assessment Guide,” abbreviated simply as “IDI Guide.” The role of the IDI Guide is to help you interpret your IDI results, whether in an individual or group debrief session. When you take the IDI at Valpo and schedule your individual debrief meeting, you may choose either Carol Goss or Stacy Hoult as your IDI Guide. Learn more here about Carol Goss and Stacy Hoult.

In order to take the IDI at this stage of Valpo’s adoption, you should be a member of a group or team (i.e. staff group, students in a specific course, faculty cohort of some kind, etc.).  In some cases, individual faculty and staff members may be invited to take the IDI to explore applications within their unit. A faculty or staff leader usually initiates a targeted project for a specific group or team in order to implement the IDI. If you are a faculty or staff member interested in taking the IDI, please contact Carol Goss or Stacy Hoult or complete the IDI Interest Form.

If you are a faculty or staff member, please complete the IDI Interest Form or contact Carol Goss or Stacy Hoult, both of whom are licensed by IDI, LLC to administer the IDI assessment at Valparaiso University. They will meet with you to discuss the objectives and scope of your project for using the IDI and explain the implementation process.