Intercultural Communication: Not a Luxury

Competence in intercultural communication, being able to communicate and interact with individuals from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, is not just a luxury anymore but a necessity in the fast paced, interconnected, high-tech world of global business.

Parlez: Background

The need to provide those services continues to grow. Yet often the available services are limited to accent reduction or are not based on evidence-driven techniques. Parlez is different. Founded by an expert in non-native accents, Dr. Agata Gluszek, it provides comprehensive and scientific approach to intercultural communication. Dr. Gluszek founded Parlez because she saw the dire need for effective, science-based techniques to intercultural communication. The mission of Parlez extends beyond helping organizations and educational institutions overcome challenges associated with linguistically and culturally diverse population to teaching organizations how to benefit from this diversity.

Parlez: Guiding Principles

Parlez Consulting, LLC, strives to create inclusive settings in which individuals thrive, benefitting themselves and their organizations. Parlez believes in the far-researching benefits of education and the responsibility each company has in contributing to social justice. In one of its initiatives, Parlez collects gently used books and textbooks to distribute to children and students in less privileged countries. In all of its aspects, Parlez considers its impact on the environment and subscribes to the "reduce, reuse, and recycle" principle.

Agata Gluszek, PhD, received her doctorate in experimental social/personality psychology from Yale University. Her multidisciplinary research used theories and findings from social psychology, communication, applied linguistics, and sociolinguistics to examine stigmatization among non-native English speakers in the United States. Chapters from her dissertation have been published in several academic journals, including Personality and Social Psychology Review, the top journal in the field. Her master's thesis project, also at Yale, focused on stigma, prejudice, and intergroup relations in the United States and assessed underprivileged students' preferences for effective learning settings. Agata obtained her BA degree magna cum laude from Cornell University where she majored in psychology and history, and conducted undergraduate research on cross-cultural differences in decision-making.

Agata has extensive training and experience in survey design, qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, and interpretation. She has taught undergraduate classes, led workshops, and conducted focus groups. She is also skilled in conducting interviews with individuals from a variety of cultural and language backgrounds.

In 2007, Agata joined Organizational Design and Development Associates (ODDA), a management consulting company, where she currently serves as an associate.

Agata has supplemented her graduate education by taking business and consulting courses. Throughout her education, she has obtained leadership and administrative experiences, and has received several awards and grants. In her spare time, Agata enjoys the outdoors, hiking, and jogging, and nature and landscape photography. She also likes to read and write nonfiction.