Study Abroad: Persepectives and Experiences From Business Schools

258 Pages·2003·1.67 MB·English

by  G.T.M. Hult

PREFACE
This special volume of Advances in International Marketing is guest-edited by
Professors G. Tomas M. Hult and Elvin C. Lashbrooke, Jr. of Michigan State
University.Theentirevolumeaddressesavarietyoftopicsrelatingtostudyabroad
programs in business schools. This volume grew out of the Third Roundtable
on Internationalizing Business Education hosted by the Center for International
Business Education and Research at Michigan State University (MSU-CIBER).
Serving as co-sponsors for this event were CIBERs at Duke University, Purdue
University, San Diego State University, Texas A&M University, University of
Memphis,UniversityofConnecticut,UniversityofKansas,UniversityofIllinois,
University of Pittsburgh, University of South Carolina, University of Texas at
Austin,andtheUniversityofWisconsin.Thecontributionsselectedforthisvolume
represent some of the best thinking and empirical findings on business-focused
studyabroadconcepts.
Wearegratefultotheauthorsoftheseselectionsformakingtheirworkavailable
toalargeraudienceofscholarsandpractitionersaroundtheworld.ProfessorsHult
and Lashbrooke are owed full credit for selecting the contributions and guiding
theauthorsintherevisionprocess.Ithasbeenapleasuretoworkwiththem.
AtMichiganStateUniversity,IremKiyak,BeverlyWilkins,andKathyWaldieof
theMSU-CIBERperformedfinaleditingandpreparedthevolumeforpublication.
Finally,IappreciatetheableassistanceofDebbieRavenatElsevierSciencefor
producingthisvolume.
S.TamerCavusgil
SeriesEditor
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FOREWORD
TheInternationalEducationandGraduateProgramsOfficeoftheU.S.Department
ofEducation(IEGPS)ispleasedtobringyouthispublicationproducedfromthe
Roundtable on Study Abroad Programs in Business Schools that took place in
EastLansing,Michigan,September2001.Thispublicationreportsontheresults
of a three-day, invitational conference of national and international experts on
studyabroad.TheconferencewashostedbytheCenterforInternationalBusiness
Education and Research in The Eli Broad Graduate School of Management at
MichiganStateUniversity(MSU-CIBER),whichisfundedunderTitleVIofthe
HigherEducationAct.
TheconferencewastheresultofcollaborativeeffortsofanumberoftheTitle
VICIBERsaswellasmanyotherscholarsintheU.S.andabroad.WeatIEGPS
are always pleased to see such collaboration with a number of federally funded
projects pooling their resources and talents. Serving as co-sponsors for this
event were CIBERs at Duke University, Purdue University, San Diego State
University, Texas A&M University, University of Memphis, University of
Connecticut,UniversityofKansas,UniversityofIllinois,UniversityofPittsburgh,
UniversityofSouthCarolina,UniversityofTexasatAustin,andtheUniversityof
Wisconsin.
Whileliberalartsprogramsatournation’scollegesanduniversitieshavealong
traditionoffosteringstudyabroadprograms,suchprogramsarerelativenewcom-
erstoourschoolsofbusinesses.Wewerethereforeparticularlygratifiedtolearn
that a network of Study Abroad Administrators in Business Schools has been
established and will hold annual meetings in conjunction with one of the major
national associations that focus on study abroad. This network should serve to
focus discussions on issues of particular relevance to business schools and their
students.
The conference at Michigan State University focused on fourteen thematic
topicsrelatingtocurricularaswellasadministrativeaspectsofstudyabroad.The
papers commissioned in preparation for the conference and the resulting peer
review comments are presented in this publication. We look forward to further
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discussions and presentations by CIBERs as well as other business schools on
thistimelyandimportanttopic.
SarahBeaton
BranchChief
SusannaEaston
SeniorProgramSpecialist
IEGPS,U.S.DepartmentofEducation,Washington,D.C.
INTRODUCTION
Withtheadventoftheglobaleconomyandmarketplace,culturalsensitivityand
languageproficiencyhaveassumednew,higherlevelsofimportanceinbusiness
education.Consequently,businessschoolsneedtoacclimatebothfacultyandstu-
dentstotheglobalenvironment.Studyabroadisaneffectivewaytoaccomplish
internationalization of faculty and students; however, there are many challenges
relatingtostudyabroadthatneedtoberesolved.Theunderlyingrationaleforstudy
abroadisevolving,asaretheanticipatedoutcomesforstudentsstudyingabroad.
Moreover,thereisnosinglesourceofinformationaboutstudyabroadandbestprac-
ticesrelatingtostudyabroad.Formalassessmentofstudyabroadprogramsisrarely
undertakeninthebeliefthatthevalueofstudyabroadisself-evident;therefore,as-
sessmentisnotcritical.Consequently,studyabroadisatopiconwhichmuchmore
researchisneeded.Therearegreatopportunitiesforscholarsandpractitionersin
thefieldofstudyabroadtodoresearchinthedifferentaspectsofstudyabroadand
disseminate and publish the results. The educational opportunities are virtually
unlimited,astheimportanceofstudyabroadasaresponsetotrainingbusinessand
otherstudentstobeabletofunctioneffectivelyintheglobaleconomyincreases.
As a response to these challenges, the Center for International Business Edu-
cationandResearch(CIBER)inTheEliBroadGraduateSchoolofManagement
atMichiganStateUniversityinEastLansing,Michigan,USAhostedathree-day
conference of national and international experts on study abroad activities from
theUnitedStates,Europe,andAsia.ThisRoundtableofStudyAbroadPrograms
inBusinessSchools,heldSeptember22–24,2001,wascosponsoredbyAACSB–
TheAssociationforInternationalEducationandtheCIBERsatDukeUniversity,
Purdue University, San Diego State University, Texas A&M University, Univer-
sity of Connecticut, University of Illinois, University of Kansas, University of
Memphis,UniversityofPittsburgh,UniversityofSouthCarolina,TheUniversity
ofTexasatAustin,andtheUniversityofWisconsin.Morethansixtyfacultyandad-
ministratorsfrombusinessandotherdisciplinesgatheredinEastLansingtoshare
theirperspectivesandexperiencesandbrainstormforsolutionstoissuessurround-
ingstudyabroad.Theseeminentlyqualifiededucatorsservedasresourcepersons.
Each brought a unique perspective to study abroad issues from their leadership
positions in business schools, other disciplines, and the U.S. national resource
centersforinternationalbusinesseducationandresearch(CIBERs).
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The roundtable experts met in small discussion groups organized into 14
thematictopicsthatcorrespondtochallengessurroundingstudyabroad.Authors
preparedandsubmittedpapersthatservedasthefocusofthediscussionsinmost
ofthesmallgroups.Thesepapersservedtofocusthediscussionsandformthetext
ofthisbook.
Therearemanykindsofstudyabroadprograms,eachwithdifferentanticipated
outcomes.Sothereisnobeststudyabroadprogramforanyindividualstudent.Each
businessschoolshouldhaveanarrayofdifferentkindsofstudyabroadprograms
in a diverse set of locations to satisfy student needs and demands. What is that
optimalmix?Studyabroadprogramsalsomustdelivertheanticipatedoutcomes
to be meaningful. Assessment is a necessary part of the program; however, at
present,thereisnoacceptedstandardforevaluatingstudyabroadprogram.
Study abroad requires faculty participation in curricular issues and in study
abroaditself.Facultyareimportantinallaspectsofstudyabroad,frombeingthe
championofaparticularprogramtorecruitingstudents.Thereareimpedimentsto
facultyparticipationinstudyabroad,particularlyparticipationbyjuniorfaculty.
Thepromotionandtenureprocessandtheannualreviewandsalaryprocessesdo
not place much value on study abroad in many business schools. Faculty incen-
tivesmustbeputinplacetoinsureparticipation,butwhatarethemosteffective
incentives?
Studentrecruitmentisimperative.Facultyandstudyabroadadministratorsneed
to stress the importance of study abroad and tout the benefits of study abroad
to students. Students are best recruited by their peers who have studied abroad.
Parents need to be informed about the benefits of study abroad. Efforts need to
be made to recruit minority students. We need marketing research to be able to
identify the most efficient and cost effective ways of recruiting. Costs of study
abroadmaybeadetrimenttostudyabroadformanystudentswithlimitedfinancial
resources. Research needs to be undertaken to determine the effects of costs on
student enrollment. Where is the breaking point? Efforts must be made to keep
thecostsdownwhilestillmaintainingqualityprograms.Morescholarshipfunds
are needed. Fundraising efforts need to be planned and implemented to create
endowmentsforstudyabroadscholarships.
Alloftheseissuesandothersneedfurtherdiscussionandresearch.TheMichigan
StateUniversityCenterforInternationalBusinessEducationandResearch2001
RoundtableonStudyAbroadProgramsinBusinessSchoolswasanimportantstep
in bringing participants together to share research and discuss the major issues
surrounding study abroad. The undertaking and planning of this roundtable was
aformidableundertaking,particularlyinthelightoftheeventsofSeptember11,
2001,whichoccurredjustpriortotheroundtableonSeptember22–24,2001.Most
importantlyaretheoutcomesoftheroundtablethatwillcarrythediscussionsand
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researchfurther.TheNetworkofStudyAbroadAdministratorsinBusinessSchools
hasbeenestablished.ItsorganizationalmeetingwasheldinSanAntonio,Texas,in
May2002.Subsequentmeetingshavebeenplannedandanorganizationalstructure
created.Thenetwork’smissionistoprovideaforumforthecontinuationofthe
roundtablediscussionsandforthesharingofbestpracticesandresearchonstudy
abroadinbusinessschools.Thisbookisanotheroutcomeoftheroundtablethat
willstimulatediscussionandfurtherresearchonstudyabroad.Theseedsplanted
attheRoundtableindeedhavebeguntosprout.
G.TomasM.Hult
ElvinC.Lashbrooke,Jr.
MichiganStateUniversity
EastLansing,Michigan
DOCUMENTATION AND ASSESSMENT
OF THE IMPACT OF STUDY ABROAD
Edward C. Ingraham
INTRODUCTION
Thepurposeofthispaperistodescribethestudyabroadimpactassessmentproject
that has been undertaken during the past year by Michigan State University and
topresentsomepreliminary(andtentative)conclusions.Itshouldbeemphasized
thatthisisaprogressreport,vulnerabletotheuncertaintiesthattimewillremove
astheprojectmatures.
PeterMcPherson,PresidentofMichiganStateUniversity,isdeeplycommitted
totheideathatstudyabroadisbeneficialforundergraduates.Recognizinghow-
ever that systematically gathered qualitative and quantitative information which
assesses the impact of study abroad is scarce if existent at all, he instructed the
DeanofInternationalStudiesandPrograms,JohnHudzik,inthelatesummerof
2000todesignandputinplacemechanismsforcontinuouslyassessingtheimpact
of study abroad on students, on faculty, and on MSU as a whole.1 A high-level
assessmentcommitteewasestablished,chairedbytheDeanofInternationalStud-
iesandPrograms,withrepresentativesfromtheOfficeoftheProvost,theOffice
ofStudyAbroad,theOfficeofPlanningandBudgets,thePlacementInstitute,and
InternationalStudiesandPrograms.Afterafewmeetingsofthegroup,itbecame
apparentthatthelevelofworkinvolvedtogettheprojectgoingwassosubstan-
tialastorequiretemporarilyaprojectdirector.Thegroupwasfortunateinbeing
abletopersuadearecentlyretiredfacultymemberwithextensiveadministrative
experiencetotakeonthistaskforsixmonths,duringwhichtimethebasicformof
StudyAbroad:PerspectivesandExperiencesfromBusinessSchools
AdvancesinInternationalMarketing,Volume13,1–21.
©2003PublishedbyElsevierScienceLtd.
ISSN:1474-7979/PII:S147479790213002X
1
2 EDWARDC.INGRAHAM
thestudytookshape.Thisinitialperiodofintenseplanningandstudynowbeing
completed, there will be a transition during this coming year that will establish
theseassessmentactivitiesasanintegralpartofthecontinuingresponsibilitiesof
thevariousunitsoncampusinvolvedinstudyabroad.
As most of the components of the study did not focus on the distinct disci-
plines within the University, few of the results below are specific to colleges
of business. However, we believe that the approach we have taken and the
general results we have obtained will be of interest to the participants in this
roundtable.
SourcesofInformation
Sofaroursourcesofinformationhavebeen:
(1) studentparticipantsbefore,during,uponreturn,andsometimeaftertheirstudy
abroadexperiences;
(2) thecentralMSUstudentdatabase;
(3) a bibliography of publications related to assessment of the impact of study
abroad.
HowWeAreGatheringInformation
1. FromStudents
The heart of our project thus far has been the information gathered directly
fromstudentsandthereforefocusesonstudentsatisfaction.2 Wewilladdress
issuesofstudentlearninglater.
(a) Studentquestionnaires:
(i) Becausetherehasbeensomeurgencyinthisproject,wedecidedtoget
reactionsfromstudentswhohadstudiedabroadrecently(“post-only”),
even though we could not compare their attitudes to those they had
priortodeparture.Thisinvolvedsendingoutquestionnairestomany
participantswhohadrecentlyreturnedfromstudyabroadexperiences,
aswellasconductingfocusgroupswithsuchstudents.
(ii) Wealsoundertooktodesignandtoadministerpairedquestionnaires
(“pre-post”)designedtosamplepre-departureandpost-returnopinion
from students, allowing us to see what they felt were the changes
in attitudes and expectations their study abroad experiences had
produced.
DocumentationandAssessmentoftheImpactofStudyAbroad 3
(b) Studentjournals:Wehaverequestedsubmissionofjournalsthatstudents
havewrittenwhilestudyingabroad.
(c) In-depthstudies:Twofacultyleadersofstudyabroadprograms(inNepal
andBrazil)havevolunteeredtoprovidethecommitteewithin-depthstudies
oftheirprograms,whichinvolvecasestudiesandon-siteobservation.The
committee also is undertaking program studies that involve on-site staff
visits to programs that are in progress, with the opportunity to interview
all participants of a program. (One of the methodological difficulties in
the approach in (a) and (b) above is that one gets responses only from
thosestudentswhochoosetoturninthequestionnaireorattendthefocus
group, which may tend to attract only those students who feel strongly
eitherpositivelyornegativelyabouttheexperience,leavingoutthosefor
whichitwasaho-humhappening.)
(d) Alumnistudies:Oneofthecommitteemembershasdesigned,andisad-
ministeringageneralquestionnairetobegiventoagroupofalumniofthe
BroadCollegeofBusinesswhichcontainsstudyabroadimpactquestions.
2. TheCentralMSUDatabase
We were able to have access to much data concerning MSU’s student body
through the committee’s representative from the Office of Planning and
Budgets.
3. Bibliography
Two of the members of the committee have extensive experience with the
literature in the field of study abroad and they have compiled an extensive
bibliographyforcommitteeuse.
CategoriesofStudyAbroadImpactonIndividualStudents
For the purposes of its study, the group has identified five general categories of
impact:
(1) academicprogressandintellectualdevelopment;
(2) attitudes,e.g.tolerancetowardsothers,self-confidence,culturalattitudes;
(3) skills, e.g. foreign language proficiency, coping with ambiguity, critical
thinking;
(4) understandingandappreciationoftheworldandone’splaceinit,e.g.reflection
on other and one’s own cultures, perspectives on the role played by politics
andtheartsinthehumancondition;
(5) effectonone’splaceinsociety,e.g.employmentopportunities,abilitytodo
job.
4 EDWARDC.INGRAHAM
Inaddition,suchitemsaseffectonhealth,finances,andfamilyweregroupedunder
the ubiquitous designation of “miscellaneous.” By defining these categories, we
haveconstructedaframeworkintowhichtoplacethevariousdataandcomments
wereceive.
QUANTITATIVERESULTS
StudentOpinion
Asthefirststepinourgatheringofstudentopinion,wesentasurveycontaining
33 statements to 1,475 students who had studied abroad during some portion of
the1999–2000academicyear(“post-only”).Studentsweregivenfiveresponses
fromwhichtochoose:
1=notatall;
2=verylittle;
3=some;
4=quiteabit;
5=verymuch.
Fourhundredandthirty-sevensurveyswerereturnedandanalyzed,withtheresults
groupedaccordingtothefivegeneralcategorieslistedabove.Someofthestate-
mentshadapositiveslant(“Studyingabroadhascontributedtomyunderstanding
of my host country”), others a negative cast (“Studying abroad has delayed my
graduation”).
Theresponsesheldveryfewsurprisesforthoseofusconvincedofthebenefits
ofstudyabroad.Certainlythebiggest(andperhapstheonly)onewasthefactthat
ofthe437respondents,84%hadtraveledabroad(notcountingtripstoCanada)
for some reason other than study abroad. The statement with the highest mean
score (4.68) was “I will recommend (have recommended) study abroad to my
friends” and the statement with the lowest mean (1.08) was “Studying abroad
was a waste of time for me.” Of the statements with a positive slant, the one
withthelowestmean(2.46)was“Asaresultofmystudyabroadexperiencemy
ability to speak a foreign language has improved” and of those with a negative
tone, “I could have accomplished a lot more academically if I had stayed on
campusratherthanstudyingabroad”hadameanof1.42.Forthefullresults,see
AppendixA.
Wealsodesignedpairedsurveys(“pre-post”)tobegivenfirstasapilottostu-
dentswhostudiedabroadduringWinterBreak2000–2001andthensubsequently