This study examined US undergraduate students’ intent to study abroad upon college entry and their actual participation in study abroad during their undergraduate years, correlating the college outcomes of three cohorts to identify trends. The findings show that study abroad intent and participation are interrelated and shaped by an array of factors, including gender, race or ethnicity, major, and involvement in college activities. While mathematical ability and helping to promote racial understanding negatively affected study abroad intent, aspiring to earn an advanced degree, time spent socializing with friends, artistic ability, seeking to improve understanding of other countries and cultures, and expectations to join a social fraternity or sorority, to be satisfied with college, and to participate in student clubs or groups positively influenced study abroad intent. Also, the findings indicate that involvement in the student government, a music or theater group, a political club, club sports, and off-campus study negatively affected participation in study abroad. Finally, the findings reveal that study abroad made a unique contribution to college outcomes, such as understanding moral and ethical issues, communication skills, academic performance, and overall satisfaction. Implications for higher education researchers, study abroad professionals, senior administrators, faculty advisors, and college students are discussed.

Predictors of Study Abroad Intent, Participation, and College Outcomes

Alongside the educational expansion and internationalisation of economies, it has become more important for students’ labour market success to spend part of their studies abroad. However, only a fraction of German students studies abroad. In particular, students from underprivileged families refrain from doing so. While the social selectivity of international student mobility is well documented, the mechanisms underlying this pattern of inequality are insufficiently understood. Aiming to narrow this research gap, we examine an early stage of the process leading to international mobility and address the question why students from underprivileged families intend to study abroad less often. Applying theories of rational choice and cultural reproduction, we develop a theoretical framework that integrates several mechanisms explaining the observed social inequality. Using a nationally representative panel data set from the German School Leavers Survey, we estimate logistic regressions and effect decompositions. Our findings indicate that underprivileged students’ lower likelihood of forming a study abroad intention partially results from previous life course events. Related to their previous educational decisions and experiences, underprivileged students have worse performance-related preconditions for studying abroad. Furthermore, their higher cost sensitivity and lower benefit expectation explain their reluctance to study abroad.

Why do students from underprivileged families less often intend to study abroad

Self and society: Social change and individual development

This paper highlights the importance of international students to the United States by discussing their impact and necessity to U.S. universities. International student enrollment is a major industry of importance to the U.S. economy and despite arduous visa processes and diminished job prospects their enrollment numbers continue to grow. The Institute of International Education (2012) reports that a lack of funding to public universities has increased their reliance on the revenue provided by international students while private universities also seek to bolster their position in the face of increased international competition. The importance of international students in under-enrolled majors, their necessity as a vital revenue stream for universities and the challenges faced by both student and host university are also discussed. The author provides recommendations for improving the educational experience of international students through improved relationships with university constituents in order to maintain the attractiveness and competitiveness of the U.S. as a preferred place of study.

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Where We Are Now -The Presence and Importance of International Students to Universities in the United States

Scholarly studies of international student mobility programs have increased during the last two decades, particularly following the Bologna Declaration. Nevertheless, a systematic review of interna...

Outcomes of international student mobility programs: a systematic review and agenda for future research

Through the analysis of alumni survey data from three graduating cohorts, this study examined the influence of interaction with international students on domestic students' college outcomes and explored factors that helped to promote international interaction on college campuses. The findings indicate that in comparison to non-interactive domestic students, highly interactive domestic students reported significantly higher levels of development in a wide range of areas across the three cohorts. Also, the findings suggest that active engagement in college activities, such as coursework outside the major, contact with faculty outside class, ethnic or cultural clubs or organizations, and visiting speakers, was likely to promote interaction across cultures.Keywords: international interaction; questioning beliefs; skill development; educational benefits; college activities; college outcomes.Over the past half century, a growing number of international students have enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities. According to the latest report by Farrugia, Chow and Bhandari (2012), the number of international students in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 764,495 in the 2011/12 academic year, reflecting a 31% increase over a decade ago. This steady increase is largely due to the active recruitment efforts by many U.S. academic institutions and the actions by the U.S. government to promote American higher education as well as a rising middle class in key source countries that could afford to send their children to study abroad (Fisher, 2009).With the greater involvement of many countries in the global free trade economy and a new environment of budgetary cuts, the competition for talented and self-funded international students among nations has become intense and strategic in recent decades for two major reasons. First, international students provide a strong talent pool and make academic and cultural contributions to college campuses (Andrade, 2009; Choudaha & Chang, 2012; McCormack, 2007). Second, international students make a significant contribution to the economy of host countries (Farrugia, Chow, & Bhandari, 2012). In 2011/12, for instance, international students contributed over $22.7 billion to the U.S. economy through expenditures on tuition and living expenses.Although many institutions world-wide aspire to maintain their financial health by aggressive recruitment of international students, it is claimed that the main purpose of most colleges and universities in recruiting international students is "to provide international and cross-cultural perspectives for their students and to enhance their curricula" (Altbach & Knight, 2007, p. 293). The significant impact of international students on the local, state, and national economy is apparent and has been quantified in indisputable monetary terms. Also, a sizable body of research highlights the challenges international students face while adapting themselves to the living and learning environments of the host country (e.g., Abe, Talbot, & Geelhoed, 1998; Lee, 2010; Trice, 2004; Ward, 2001). Despite these facts, few empirical studies have systematically examined the extent to which international students contribute to the intellectual and cultural environments on U.S. college campuses from the perspective of domestic students (Geelhoed, Abe, & Talbot, 2003).This study seeks to provide empirical evidence for claims of potential outcomes and to equip institutions with useful information on how to develop programs to enhance students' collegiate experiences, by examining whether interaction with international students benefits U.S. students' college experiences and to identify factors that are likely to promote such interaction. Three research questions guide this study: (a) To what extent does international interaction influence U.S. students' questioning of beliefs and values about politics, religions, and the nature of human beings or society during the course of their undergraduate studies? …

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David Jamieson-Drake

Papers

Predictors of Study Abroad Intent, Participation, and College Outcomes

Examining the Educational Benefits of Interacting with International Students.