The Effect of Advertising-Focused, Short-Term Study Abroad Programs on Students’ Worldviews

AbstractGlobal employers in the advertising industry are increasingly interested in hiring students with intercultural communication skills and cultural experience. While the benefits of long-term study abroad programs are well documented, this study focuses on advertising-specific, short-term study abroad programs. The purpose was to explore the effectiveness of such programs on students 'worldviews using a mixed methods design. The results show that students displayed lower levels of ethnocentrism after participating in short-term, advertising-focused study abroad programs. In addition, five qualitative themes emerged: an awareness of and appreciation for the out-group, an increased awareness of the in-group, the importance of communication, a positive effect on professional goals, and opportunities for personal growth and inspiration to explore cultures in more depth.In response to a globalized world with increasingly open borders, institutions of higher education have focused on "internationalizing" their curricula for many years. In particular, advertising practitioners and educators recognized that advertising students needed to be prepared to work in international markets (Miracle, 2008; Dunn, 1994). Despite the recent global economic recession, the global advertising industry has a total value of $98 billion. This value is predicted to increase to $120.7 billion by 2014, which is a 23.2 percent increase in only five years (Datamonitor, 2010). Research shows that global employers in the advertising industry are particularly interested in hiring students who have international advertising skills (Rose & Miller, 1993; Heiman, 2001) as well as advertising and cultural experience (Lee, Chen & Katz, 1997). The dominance of the American advertising industry in the global marketplace is reflected by the many advertising curricula in higher education across the country that are preparing their students to compete in a globalized world. The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) also recognizes this need, requiring those programs that seek accreditation to "demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of peoples and cultures and of the significance and impact of mass communications in a global society" (Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, 2010, p. 42). In addition, programs can seek accreditation by the International Advertising Association (IAA), whose purpose is to ensure high quality teaching and content acceptable in the global communications community (International Advertising Association, 201 1).One way to internationalize the curriculum and to give students an opportunity to learn and demonstrate their ability to exchange verbal and non-verbal messages with individuals from other cultures, also known as "intercultural communication skills" (Neuliep, 2006, p. 38), is to offer advertising-specific, short-term study abroad programs (Ganahl & Rose, 2000). The level of one's ethnocentrism, which can be defined as "the tendency to place one's own group (cultural, ethnic or religious) in a position of centrality and worth, and to create negative attitudes and behaviors toward other groups" (Neuliep, 2006, p. 38), can be an indicator of a person's intercultural communication skills as cultural competence and ethnocentrism are inversely related (Capell, Dean & Veenstra, 2008). Research shows that short-term study abroad programs can have a positive effect on the overall development of students' cross-cultural sensitivity (Anderson, Lawton, Rexeisen & Hubbard, 2006). In addition, several studies indicate that study abroad programs affect students' worldviews as measured by their level of ethnocentrism both positively and negatively (Pedersen, 2010; Jackson, 2008; Kambutu & Nganga, 2008). However, no studies currently exist that investigate the effect of short-term study abroad programs that have a clearly defined advertising focus. …