Promoting Inclusion in Education Abroad

A Handbook of Research and Practice

Nick J. Gozik, Heather Barclay Hamir, Nick J. Gozik, Heather Barclay Hamir

• Publisher: Stylus Publishing
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781620365588
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Higher Education

Co-published with
While education abroad – including studying, volunteering, researching, and interning abroad – is increasingly emphasized as a critical factor in preparing undergraduates for a globally interconnected world, diversifying the pool of participants in such activities has proven challenging. Framed within the concept of "inclusive excellence" with the objective of promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity in higher education as foundational to educational excellence, the contributors present research and practices that have been proven successful in improving participation among groups of students traditionally underrepresented in education abroad.Broader participation in education abroad programming has been a perennial concern at numerous higher education institutions in the U.S., having prompted countless discussions in professional organizations and across campuses among faculty, staff, and students. Many have come to recognize that overseas opportunities are no longer a luxury and instead are a necessity for job seekers entering a more diverse, globally interconnected workplace.The volume offers a combination of research-based chapters and case studies from leading experts on the barriers that disproportionately impact specific groups of students, including: students with disabilities; first-generation college students; undocumented students; racial and ethnic minorities; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors; and males. The authors illuminate the issues which may inhibit education abroad participation, from individual to institutional, and present strategies reflecting a broad range of institutional contexts, resources, and needs.While there has been significant discussion and action to promote broader inclusion in education abroad, this is the first volume focusing on research and practice to achieve these ends, and is intended as a critical resource for practitioners and scholars alike.

PART ONE

FRAMING THE DISCUSSION

1

MAKING THE CASE FOR INCLUSION IN EDUCATION ABROAD

Heather Barclay Hamir and Nick Gozik

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

—Nelson Mandela

The education of students is an opportunity and a tremendous responsibility. As a nation, the United States relies on postsecondary institutions to prepare individuals for leadership, employment, and civic engagement. Despite substantial evidence of the outcomes of higher education (Mayhew et al., 2016; National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2017b), considerable debate continues over the foundational issues of who has access to educational opportunities and the extent to which students benefit. Institutions are under intense scrutiny to demonstrate their value through degree completion rates, learning outcomes, and alumni success to justify the investment of various entities including states, the federal government, families, and students themselves. Simultaneously, institutions are challenged to create equitable access to higher education among historically underserved groups through more inclusive recruitment and admissions practices. Significant attention has been focused on identifying effective educational practices as a means of improving educational quality and outcomes across demographic groups and disciplines.

Higher education aspires to prepare all students for their future lives and careers, which will continue to be influenced by the ease of global connectivity and interconnected global economies, while also seeking to reverse historical inequities in educational achievement at a societal level. At the time of this publication, the United States is within 35 years of becoming a majority-minority nation, with people of color making up the majority of the population for the first time in our history (Colby & Ortman, 2014). This population change is steadily shifting enrollment patterns throughout our educational system. As an example, students of color represented 41% of postsecondary enrollment in 2013 compared to only 16% in 1976 according to NCES (2017c) data. This is just one, although highly significant, shift that will have a great impact on higher education in the decades to come.

Against this backdrop, those involved in education abroad, including overseas study, research, internships, and service, grapple with many of the same concerns for equitable access. The importance of broader participation in education abroad stems from several intersecting beliefs about the education of students and intended outcomes of the educational process. It is no longer sufficient simply to admit a more diverse and representative population of college-going students across an expanding range of academic disciplines; instead, we are equally obligated to ensure that the many opportunities in higher education are apparent and available to all students. Participation in high-impact practices such as education abroad, service-learning, or capstone projects, among others, is a critical factor in student engagement, promotes deeper learning, and influences student retention (Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, & Whitt, 2005). When considered in light of the reality of historical inequities in educational access, disparate participation rates in education abroad suggest one more layer of inequity within the bounds of higher education.

Although there has been significant attention on inclusion in education abroad, relatively little analytical work exists on the topic. Presentations at professional conferences and a scattering of articles and chapters advance knowledge and dialogue on the diversification of education abroad participation, yet to date there has not been a single volume focusing on research and practice to promote broader inclusion. With this book we fill this gap by providing a single resource designed for practitioners and researchers alike. This volume is not intended to provide an overview of all students underrepresented in education abroad. Instead, it provides a collection of chapters written by scholars and practitioners, with the goal of furthering a larger conversation on the barriers that students face and strategies to mitigate those barriers. We also hope that the chapters included here inspire more research and publications on the topic.

Education Abroad, Equity, and Learning Outcomes

On the surface, education abroad, equity, and learning outcomes might seem to have a tenuous relationship with each other. What can education abroad contribute to larger issues of access and equity in higher education or to improved student outcomes? We believe that the case for inclusion in education abroad rests on at least three main arguments related to student learning and success, equity of educational opportunity, and the impact of inclusion on learning.

Student learning and success is at the heart of discussions about the efficacy of higher education itself. Policy and public concern often focus on graduation rates, the quality of education, and employability. Historically, education abroad seemed tangential to these broader national and institutional concerns. Over the past two decades, though, multiple researchers have identified beneficial outcomes of education abroad participation that enhance student learning and success. Large-scale studies provide compelling evidence that participation in education abroad correlates with improved outcomes on several important measures of educational effectiveness, including degree completion (Kuh et al., 2005; O’Rear, Sutton, & Rubin, 2011; Sutton & Rubin, 2010) and integrative, or deep, learning (Kuh, 2008), which fosters the development of critical thinking skills. Although these gains exist for all students, they are particularly powerful among students historically underserved by higher education, including African American and Latino and Latina students (Kuh, 2008). Given that graduation rates for these groups have been consistently below the national average for decades (NCES, 2017a), this creates a compelling case for considering expanded participation in education abroad as a means for fostering greater student learning and success.

Inclusion in education abroad is also a matter of equity in terms of the educational opportunities students pursue within the bounds of their degrees. A college education consists of more than the sum of a student’s courses. However, taking advantage of opportunities to pursue enriching educational activities such as research, internships, or education abroad requires students to know these opportunities exist, believe them to be valuable, and receive sufficient support in pursuing them. As an example, a first-generation college student is apt to matriculate with little familial guidance on navigating college. Once the student gets to college, he or she is likely to have even less assistance in pursuing additional activities that may seem unrelated to the overall goal of graduating and gaining employment. In contrast, a science major may be fully aware of a range of educational activities available beyond the classroom yet infer that participation is not valued because of a lack of faculty encouragement or sufficient assurance that transfer credit from abroad will fulfill necessary major, minor, or general education requirements. Similarly, a wheelchair user may be aware of and excited about education abroad, yet feel discouraged from participating when faculty or advisers seem hesitant about his or her ability to navigate a new physical environment. In each case, the net impact is a narrowing of educational opportunity within the context of the degree itself. Although not all students will be interested in education abroad, equity of opportunity requires that they are at least aware of the option and the potential benefits of participation, that institutional policies support participation, and that faculty and staff are equally supportive of participation by students from different backgrounds and disciplines. Failure to promote full access to any element of higher education equates to a failure to promote equity of educational opportunity, thereby perpetuating differential outcomes in student learning and success.

Another rationale for an inclusive approach to education abroad participation relates to the quality of learning for all students abroad. The positive impact of interactions with diversity on student development is well documented (Kuh et al., 2006; Mayhew et al., 2016; Pascarella, 2006). In this case, diversity takes on the broader meaning of “interactions with a diverse spectrum of people, ideas, values, and perspectives that are different from one’s own and challenge one’s assumed views of the world” (Pascarella, 2006, p. 511). Kuh (2008) categorizes education abroad as a high-impact practice that has the ability to foster global learning and interactions with individuals from diverse backgrounds. If the population going abroad is largely homogenous, however, participants miss one important opportunity to experience such diversity. This is especially true when contact with locals may be limited because of program design, as with short-term faculty-led programs or semester or academic-year programs where students spend much of their time in and out of the classroom with other U.S. students.

The Value of Education Abroad

Much of our argument is predicated on the assumption that education abroad is of value. If education abroad, as one high-impact practice, is known to be beneficial, it is not the only such practice. So why education abroad specifically? To be fair, not all key stakeholders, including parents, students, senior-level administrators, faculty, and lawmakers, necessarily buy into the argument that greater access to education abroad should be a priority. At some institutions with long-held commitments to internationalization, education abroad has gained wider acceptance and is considered part of the fabric of campus life. In other domains, overseas programming is not considered integral to the academic missions of institutions for a whole host of reasons. Even for those who are apt to support education abroad, realistic concerns have been raised over the cost, curricular fit, and ability of programs to deliver consistently on their stated promises (Twombly, Salisbury, Tumanut, & Klute, 2012).

We agree that education abroad should not be taken as a given and needs to be evaluated critically to determine whether it meets the needs of individual institutions and students. Indeed, it is necessary to question what students gain from education abroad and why it is relevant. The answer comes down in part to a long-standing debate over the purpose of higher education in the United States, which has pitted a seemingly lofty view of a liberal arts education, reduced to the notion of learning for learning’s sake, against a more pragmatic vision of colleges and universities as training grounds for future careers (Berrett, 2015). For proponents of the liberal arts, college is designed to be a place of intellectual curiosity, where students learn academically and about themselves. Exposure to diverse perspectives in this context permits students to encounter others who are different from themselves and can lead to the promotion of critical thinking, an increase in one’s knowledge base, greater worldliness, and the enhancement of social development (Hyman & Jacobs, 2009).

Intended outcomes of education abroad include a similar set of soft skills, with the goal that students become more adaptable, independent, globally minded, proficient in another language, and interculturally competent. It is true that many of these same skills can be developed on students’ home campuses through classroom and extracurricular activities. Technology, moreover, has eroded many former boundaries, allowing instantaneous access to people and data from around the world. At the same time, one of the key distinctions in education abroad is the ability for students to be plunged into a different culture for a short, intense period. The cognitive dissonance created by such an experience can provide an opening for students to grow much more rapidly and deeply than they would at home (Che, Spearman, & Manizade, 2009).

From a pragmatic, career-oriented perspective, the soft skills discussed here are in fact equally relevant. To be sure, technical, or hard, skills are mandatory for many disciplines. None of us would want to hire, much less use the services of, a nurse or doctor who has not fully mastered his or her profession. In addition to this technical expertise, however, employers increasingly seek applicants with strong social skills...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Part One: Framing the Discussion
• Part Two: Research and Practice
• Part Three: Next Steps
• Editors and Contributors
• Index
• Also available from Stylus
• Backcover