Proving the Benefits of Study Abroad Research on Assurance of Learning and other outcomes

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Proving the Benefits of Study AbroadResearch on
Assurance of Learning and other outcomes

• Bill Clabby
• Director of Research ISA
• International Studies Abroad

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AACSB Assurances of Learning

• Mission specific
• Career building
• Maturity and Flexibility
• Intellectual Development
• Financial resources that support mission

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Mission

• the school must develop a list of the learning
  goals for which it will demonstrate assurance of
  learning. This list of learning goals derives
  from, or is consonant with, the school's
  mission.
• Your university likely includes
  internationalization within its mission

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Career Building

• Learning expectations build on the students'
  pre-collegiate educations to prepare students to
  enter and sustain careers in the business world
  and to contribute positively in the larger
  society.

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Maturity Flexibility

• Students achieve knowledge and skills for
  successful performance in a complex environment
  requiring intellectual ability to organize work,
  make and communicate sound decisions, and react
  successfully to unanticipated events.

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Intellectual Development

• Students develop learning abilities suitable to
  continue higher-level intellectual development.

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Proven Outcomes

• GPA benefit
• Study Abroad students graduate earlier
• Employers study abroad skills
• Language acquisition
• Fulfilling academic requirements
• Cultural Awareness

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GPA Benefit

• UCSD research (not yet published)
• GPA of study abroad participants compared with
  accepted applicants who decided not to
  participate
• 2722 data points, 1997-2006
• 2150 Study Abroad Participants, 572
  Non-Participants
• All applied for study abroad and were accepted
• Most were Juniors or Seniors, so changes in GPA
  are expected to be smaller due to advanced point
  in their degree.

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Specific GPA Outcomes
lt3.0 GPA before participation, Short Term .064
difference lt3.0 GPA before participation, Long
Term .094 difference gt3.0 GPA before
participation, Short Term .064 difference gt3.0
GPA before participation, Long Term .064
difference Long Term Semester abroad or
longer Short Term Less than a semester abroad
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Reduced Time to Graduation

• University of Minnesota - 2008
• Study abroad students graduated at a faster rate
  than non study abroad students

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Value to Employers

• Skills gained in study abroad ranked highly in
  desired traits of potential employees
• -Scott Research Group, 2005
• - Michigan State U, CIER study

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Desired Expected Traits

• Foreign Language ability
• Internship in a foreign country
• Will function more independently
• Will work more effectively with people from
  diverse races/cultures
• - Scott Research Group, 2005

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Conveying Benefits

• Michigan State University "Study Abroad and
  Employment Conveying the Value to Recruiters
• Workshop helps students convey the most valuable
  benefits of the experience to employers
• Resume-building, portfolio of learning that
  include study abroad skills developed should be a
  part of every program.
• Students need guidance on articulating their
  experience abroad

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Quotes from Employers

• All major hiring companies need global citizens.
  Global sensitivities, global perspective, global
  insight along with maturity and a capacity for
  risk-taking, are exactly the skills every major
  organization is looking for in every industry.
  
• - Kevin Gill, Global Director of Staffing for
  Honeywell

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Quotes from Employers

• "Business, education and political leaders are
  grappling with the question of how to produce
  workers and citizens who can remain competitive
  in a world that seems to be shrinking before our
  very eyes,"
• - Vivien Stewart, Vice President of Education,
  Asia Society, December 2005.

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Foreign Language Acquisition

• Seeking Level 2 language proficiency, linking to
  study abroad participation.
• Ann Barron, Acquisition in Interlanguage
  Pragmatics, 2003
• Seeking

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Michigan State Recruiting Trends

• "geographic awareness and global understanding"
  as the primary "new competencies for job
  seekers critical to future success."
• as businesses become realigned globally,
  having employees with an awareness of space,
  social and cultural geographic movement, as well
  as dominant physical assets of a region will be
  critical to a companys vitality.

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Experiential Benefit
From Pathways to International Careers, William
Nolting in Impact of Education Abroad on Career
Development
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Fulfilling Academic Requirements

• A key to continued support by campus
• Increasingly important to parents
• Programs seen as Integral to the academic
  program of the home university are most likely to
  remain supported by the campus
• - Stephen DePaul, Director of Global Initiatives,
  University of Texas system

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Cultural Awareness

• Rand Corporation Study, 2003
• Hiring managers asked to rank 19 different
  qualifications in terms of their importance for
  their organization, ranked cross-cultural
  competence fifth.
• Defined as an ability to work well in different
  cultures and with people of different origins.

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What Kind of Programs?

• Managers criticized American Bubble Programs -
  living with Americans, taking courses with U.S.
  professors, socializing among themselves
• Managers valued programs with substantial and
  meaningful real world experience with another
  culture
• Multidimensional and well-integrated repertoir
  of skills that includes substantial professional
  or technical knowledge related to the
  organizations core business managerial ability
  that includes effective interpersonal and
  teamwork skills a strategic understanding of
  their organization and industry in a global
  context and, once again, cross-cultural
  experience.

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Bibliography

• AACSB Assurance of Learning Standards
• http//www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/papers/AOLPaper
  -final-11-20-07.pdf
• University of Minnesota Graduation Rates
• Effects of Study Abroad Participation on Student
  Graduation Rates A Study of Three Incoming
  Freshman Cohorts at the University of Minnesota,
  Twin Cities. NACADA Journal, v28 n1 p29-42 Spr
  2008
• www.umabroad.umn.edu/ci/docs/evaluation/graduation
  RatesbyCollege.pdf
• Quotes from Employers
• NAFSA Global Competency Report, 2005?
• http//www.nafsa.org/_/File/_/global_competency_2.
  pdf

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Bibliography

• Foreign Language Acquisition
• Barron, 2003 Acquisition in Interlanguage
  Pragmatics
• http//linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID6168
• Recruiting Trends
• "Recruiting Trends 2005-2006, Michigan State
  University
• Rand Corporation
• What Makes a Successful Career Professional in
  an International Corporation?, 2003
• IES 50-Year Longitudinal Study
• Steinberg, Involve me and I will understand,
  2002
• Pathways to International Careers
• Nolting in Impact of Education Abroad on Career
  Development, 2002