Use of the Intercultural Development Inventory at Purdue University

Purdue University has invested in intercultural development for its faculty and staff through IDI Qualifying Seminars since the Fall of 2015. With the Qualified Administrators' (QAs') permission, CILMAR has organized a contact list for those who are interested in finding a QA in their college or department.

FAQs about the use of the IDI at Purdue Univeristy follow. 

Why should I be interested in the IDI?

The IDI is the premier, cross-cultural assessment of intercultural competence that is used by thousands of individuals and organizations to build intercultural competence to achieve international and domestic diversity and inclusion goals and outcomes.

What does the research say about the IDI?

IDI research in organizations and educational institutions confirms two central findings when using the IDI:

  1. Interculturally competent behavior occurs at a level supported by the individual’s or group’s underlying orientation as assessed by the IDI.
  2. Training and leadership development efforts at building intercultural competence are more successful when they are based on the individual’s or group’s underlying developmental orientation as assessed by the IDI.
In contrast to many “personal characteristic” instruments, the IDI is a cross-culturally valid, reliable and generalizable measure of intercultural competence along the validated Intercultural Development Continuum (adapted, based on IDI research, from the DMIS theory developed by Milton Bennett). Further, the IDI has been demonstrated through research to have high predictive validity to both bottom-line cross-cultural outcomes in organizations and intercultural goal accomplishments in education.

What is the process for becoming a QA of the IDI?

According to IDI® LLC , attendance at a Qualifying Seminar (QS) and consent to a licensing agreement is required to use the IDI Assessment. Participants will receive IDI handouts and materials that include detailed interpretive guidelines, and written descriptions of procedures. During the seminar, participants will:

  • Receive training and access to use the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory®, as well as the IDI®
  • Gain proficiency in using the IDI for increasing intercultural competence for individuals, teams, and organizations
  • Learn how the IDI differs from traditional measures of intercultural competence
  • Learn how to interpret individual and group IDI profiles of intercultural competence
  • Practice giving IDI feedback in supportive, role-play scenarios

Is there a cost for becoming an IDI QA?

Additional information about the IDI QS, including the cost, is available here. Your department may be willing to pay the fee for the QS in order to invest in your intercultural development. Please email cilmar@purdue.edu if you or your department find the cost prohibitive.

What are the cost and time constraints for the administration of the IDI?

There is a cost associated with the IDI, which needs to be taken into consideration (Faculty/Staff: $18.00, Students: $12.00). In order to receive assessment results, participants must be debriefed by an IDI QA (approximately 1 hour). A Group Debriefing is an option; however, this is restricted to groups of 12 or more and may last between 1 to 1 ½ hours.
CILMAR manages a central calendar of QA appointments which is available to all Purdue groups upon approval of the usage application (see below).

What is the process for Purdue QAs who wish to order the IDI and debrief their assessment-takers through CILMAR?

Request assistance.

Request assistance from CILMAR in ordering the IDI by contacting cilmar@purdue.edu. Please indicate when the assessment should be sent to participants and when the debriefing phase should be completed.

Provide CILMAR with a list of participants.
Provide CILMAR with a list of participants, including their email addresses and the account number to be charged for the purchase. Please provide email documentation of approval from an appropriate supervisor to use the indicated account number.
Assign the numbered usernames.
Upon receiving the usernames and passwords, the program leader should assign the numbered usernames to the participants and then distribute the usernames and passwords. This record should also be shared with CILMAR for ease of retrieval as well as monitoring completion.
Group debriefs
If a group debrief is preferred (groups greater than 12 only), submit this request via email to cilmar@purdue.edu.
Individual debriefs

If you would like to use CILMAR’s IDI Debriefing Calendar in order to register those who have taken an IDI for an individual debrief, please submit a completed Qualtrics application one semester in advance. Late submissions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

For small groups and/or with support of other QAs, individual debriefings may be covered by the program leader. In this instance and in all cases in which the program leader is a QA, CILMAR will provide all reports and data upon request.

How can I help those who have taken the IDI to continue in their intercultural development?

Several CILMAR faculty and staff have done a phenomenal job in helping students to follow through with their Intercultural Development Plan (IDP). You might reach out to Chuck Calahan, Jazmine Clifton, or Laura Starr in order to discuss their experiences as an IDP coach.

A Purdue-generated resource, based on the stage-based pedagogy research of Dr. Janet M. Bennett, for helping students to move forward in their intercultural development can be found here and here.

Updated March 20, 2024