Abstract:

Many universities strive to help students develop the intellect, character, and skills required for leading enlightened, ethical, and productive lives in a global environment. Through coursework, research projects, interaction and collaboration with faculty, internship experiences, and study abroad opportunities, students are encouraged to be globally minded citizens. Globally minded citizens demonstrate social responsibility by showing concern for other people and cultures, demonstrate civic engagement by actively participating in community and domestic issues, and develop a sense of self by understanding how each individual can contribute to the world. Global mindedness has also been conceptualized as a view by which people see themselves connected to the world community and feel a sense of responsibility for its members, which may be reflected at the local or global level through attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that demonstrate a commitment to service.

One way for students to develop a global mindset is to immerse themselves in another culture, interact with people who speak different languages, and learn to understand, respect, and appreciate customs different than their own. Universities promote such experiences through study abroad programs. In the United States of America, more than 300,000 university students study abroad each year. Of these students, 65% are female and 35% are male. More than 50% of these students go to European countries, including the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain, followed by Asia and Latin America. Programs range in duration from year-long programs, semester programs, and short-term programs spanning two to eight weeks. Some students stay in hotels while others live with host families. Some students merely take classes abroad while others participate in more immersive experiential or service-learning programs.

This paper presents an overview of academic study abroad programs, including programs that vary by duration abroad, an overview of students studying abroad by field of study and gender, and differences between traditional programs and experiential or service-learning opportunities. An overview of assessment inventories used for empirically measuring a range of student outcomes for study abroad programs will be presented, including the Global Mindedness Scale (GMS); Beliefs, Events, Values, Inventory (BEVI); Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI); Global Perspective Inventory (GPI); and the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI). A case study example will be presented of an interdisciplinary service-learning study abroad program designed to develop global mindedness amongst participants. Computer Science and Spanish students collaborated to develop and host a technology education summer camp in the Dominican Republic. Sample data will be presented to illustrate pre-post outcomes of this program using the Global Mindedness Survey. The results demonstrate that immersive study abroad programs focusing on service-learning can have a significant impact on the global perceptions of students in as little as two weeks.

Keywords:

Global citizenship, global mindedness, study abroad, measurement tools, experiential learning, service learning.