Effects of studying abroad on college students

This thesis focused on the ways short-term study abroad capstones may change students’ political stances, as well as the way it may impact their worldview. To do this, data was collected via an online survey before and after each student’s capstone with permission from the University of Northern Iowa’s Study Abroad Center. The specific variables which were measured are political standpoint (how liberal or conservative a student is), and their worldview (how the students see the world around them on a global scale). Although there has been some research done on the ways studying abroad helps students develop cross-cultural skills, there is very little research regarding how it may change a student’s political viewpoints or their worldview. No statistically significant results were found in this study. EFFECTS OF STUDYING ABROAD ON COLLEGE STUDENTS 1 Effects of Studying Abroad on College Students The world today is shrinking because of the increasing availability of technology and transportation. It is no longer expensive to make a call from halfway around the world. There are applications which even offer the service for free. Planes can fly around the world in increasingly shorter amounts of time. As technology develops and the world’s size seems to decrease, understanding other cultures and visiting new places is becoming more popular. Studying abroad has greatly increased, especially amongst college students (NAFSA n.d.). As more students study abroad, it is becoming more important to understand the way living in another country can change a student’s attitudes and beliefs. It is also becoming more important for students to have experience in a foreign country when it comes to employment. In the current global economy, many employers are looking for graduates with experience stepping out of their comfort zone in a foreign country. Experience abroad prepares students for success in their careers (NAFSA n.d.). For undergraduate students, this experience abroad can be an invaluable addition to their resume, talking point for interviews, and set them apart from students who do not have experience abroad. But besides the importance for the workforce, and undergraduate, studying abroad impacts every single student’s life in much deeper ways. Many studies have found studying abroad to influence a student’s beliefs about the world around them. Studying abroad gives each student a more open perspective to the world around them and to different cultures. There has been little research done on how studying abroad may affect or change students political beliefs, but one study by Carlson and Widaman (2002) found students who studied abroad for a year were more interested in international politics upon their EFFECTS OF STUDYING ABROAD ON COLLEGE STUDENTS 2 return. These students were compared to a control group who did not study abroad. Compared to this group, they were significantly more interested in international politics. Although it was fascinating to see this change after a long-term study abroad program, the change in the ways student’s political viewpoints may change was not approached in this study, nor in other studies. This gap in literature is an important area to study because understanding how students beliefs may change politically will also help us understand more about how they change socially, and culturally. Political viewpoints permeate many aspects of a person’s life. Knowing how these beliefs may change is an important part of understanding students. Living in another country can change a person’s perspective in many ways; however, in order to expand upon research already done in this area, this thesis focused on student’s views of politics, culture, and daily activities such as how they spend their time. After the review of the existing literature regarding study abroad, the methods used to collect data will be explained in detail. A questionnaire was compiled using questions from several long established social science surveys. Students completed the questionnaire before and after studying abroad during the summer of 2017. After the explanation of the methods, the results of the online surveys are given.