93106: Study Abroad Helps to Build a Global Citizenry







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POINTS OF VIEW

Study Abroad Helps to Build a Global Citizenry

By Scott D. Cooper
& Melody L. Knutson


	‘Surveys indicate that the United States is still very provincial.’

Today’s world is shaped and driven by the economic, social, and political interdependence of nations, necessitating a citizenry that is well informed about international issues and able to operate in the international arena.

Surveys, however, indicate that the United States is still very provincial. As a people, we seldom travel abroad, two-thirds of us speak only English, and we remain remarkably ignorant, or misinformed, about world geography, cultures, and politics. The University has been internationalizing its campuses by increasing the international content of academic programs and by integrating international scholars into our classrooms, departments, and research groups.

The University also provides domestic students with international training through study abroad programs, such as the Education Abroad Program (EAP), the largest international study program of its kind in the U.S. The only academic unit serving the entire UC system, EAP also facilitates international faculty collaborations and exchanges.

Increasing numbers of UC students spend a portion of their undergraduate studies overseas on EAP. Currently, EAP sends 4,240 students to 35 countries (up from 1,432 students in 1990). Students have 250 program options in numerous fields at 141 host institutions.

Studies of participants underscore the beneficial effects of study abroad. Compared to peers who stayed at home, students who studied abroad:

developed more intellectual skills through language study, through coursework which offered them new perspectives on their subject areas, and through the acquisition of knowledge and habits which increased their capacity to think systematically and critically;
gained a global perspective of the world and returned home with greater political awareness and knowledge of global interdependence;
vastly increased their knowledge of world geography;
gained greater knowledge of cultural relativism and changed their perceptions and understanding of host cultures and their own culture;
made greater gains in functional knowledge, i.e., the knowledge needed for daily navigation in a new environment. This includes everything from making a phone call or figuring out the best place to change money when abroad, to determining what areas of a city should be avoided.
reported increased self-esteem, autonomy, self-confidence, flexibility, maturity, self-reliance, improved social skills, and a greater toleration for ambiguity;
discovered and pursued new career trajectories and directly developed skills relevant to professional goals.

Existing research suggests that international skills and knowledge result when students are removed from their home comfort zones and exposed to unfamiliar circumstances. They undergo a complex process of interpreting new experiences in light of current or previous structures of knowledge and modifying their perspectives to incorporate new knowledge or experiences.

Returning students often describe their time on the Education Abroad Program as one of the most empowering and transformative experiences of their lives. Study abroad expands the academic horizons of students, hones their skills for operating in foreign environments, promotes their sensitivity to other cultures and perspectives, and facilitates their personal growth, all with profound repercussions for successfully identifying and attaining their personal and career goals.

Because study abroad programs represent all that is best about the approaches and mandates of universities, returned students state, unequivocally, that studying abroad is the most worthwhile thing that students can do during their university careers.

Scott D. Cooper, is associate director and academic dean of the Universitywide Office of the UC Education Abroad Program, and Melody L. Knutson is an EAP senior analyst.