Introduction to the special issue on culture, race, and ethnicity in organizational consulting psychology.

The need to strongly and directly address issues related to the rapidly changing culture, race, and ethnicity mix of workers, managers, customers, and services recipients in the United States and throughout many parts of the world is now essential. On the macro level, this need is associated with a society in the United States that will soon reach the “tipping point” whereby non-male, non-Anglo, non–Western European culture, race, and ethnicity will have as prominent an effect as has male, Anglo–Western European culture for the past 250 years (Steward, 1996). Moreover, with all the movements that are “flattening our world” in so many ways, such issues are paramount internationally as well (O’Roark, 2002). On the micro level, the increases in cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity rapidly taking place in most U.S. and global organizations and industries, whether profit or non-profit and manufacturing or service oriented, demand significant attention from those practicing consulting psychology if they wish to practice competently and effectively (Hoppe, 1998; Mullin & Cooper, 2002). For the purposes of this special issue, we use the definitions for culture, race, ethnicity, and multiculturalism/diversity from the Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists (American Psychological Association, 2002).