Undergraduate students (N = 1,261) at a Midwest, public doctoral institution completed intercultural competence (ICC) measures before/after study abroad or an on-campus global course (G-Course). We hypothesized that students in study abroad versus on-campus global courses would differ in ICC both before/after their global experience. We predicted that students would increase in ICC after study abroad or a G-course (compared to their own pre-scores). We hypothesized that students who did not intend to study abroad would be lower in ICC than those who intended to study abroad, who would be lower than study abroad students. Lastly, we predicted that students who engaged more often in globally related extracurricular and co-curricular activities would report higher ICC. The data fully or partially supported each hypothesis: highlighting myriad factors impacting university students’ ICC scores both at home and abroad and revealing important differences between students who choose to study abroad and those who do not. Study abroad does appear to change some but not all aspects of ICC. A student self-selection bias might make ICC changes more difficult to document after study abroad programs. Moreover, on-campus activities are also related to ICC development for university students. When institutions of higher education are seeking to help develop ICC in their students, study abroad is not the only effective approach and should therefore be considered one important campus internationalization tool among many. Abstract in French   Les étudiants de premier cycle (N = 1261) dans un établissement doctoral public du Midwest ont suivi des mesures de compétence interculturelle (ICC) avant / après leurs études à l'étranger ou un cours global sur le campus (cours G). Nous avons émis l'hypothèse que les étudiants en études à l'étranger par rapport aux cours mondiaux sur le campus différeraient en ICC avant / après leur expérience globale. Nous avons prédit que les étudiants augmenteraient en ICC après des études à l'étranger ou un cours G (par rapport à leurs propres pré-scores). Nous avons émis l'hypothèse que les étudiants qui n'avaient pas l'intention d'étudier à l'étranger seraient plus bas en ICC que ceux qui avaient l'intention d'étudier à l'étranger, qui seraient inférieurs aux étudiants à l'étranger. Enfin, nous avons prédit que les étudiants qui s'engageaient plus souvent dans des activités parascolaires et parascolaires liées à l'échelle mondiale auraient un ICC plus élevé. Les données étayaient totalement ou partiellement chaque hypothèse: mettant en évidence une myriade de facteurs ayant un impact sur les scores ICC des étudiants universitaires tant au pays qu'à l'étranger et révélant des différences importantes entre les étudiants qui choisissent d'étudier à l'étranger et ceux qui ne le font pas. Les études à l'étranger semblent changer certains aspects de la CPI, mais pas tous. Un biais d'auto-sélection des étudiants peut rendre les changements ICC plus difficiles à documenter après des études à l'étranger. De plus, les activités sur le campus sont également liées au développement de l'ICC pour les étudiants universitaires. Lorsque les établissements d'enseignement supérieur cherchent à contribuer au développement de l'ICC chez leurs étudiants, étudier à l'étranger n'est pas la seule approche efficace et devrait donc être considéré comme un outil d'internationalisation de campus important parmi tant d'autres.

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Intercultural competence, with its three domains (knowledge, skills, and awareness), is an important priority for international and domestic college students and the institutions they represent. However, most college students do not organically and purposefully openly engage with people from other cultural groups. The Crossing Borders program is a course-based, experiential learning approach that intentionally pairs international and domestic students for a series of shared cultural experiences and dialogues. Over an 8year span, we investigated the potential of Crossing Borders to influence intercultural competence score changes for U.S. American college students at a Midwestern campus over the course of an academic semester. With a total sample of 207 college students, we determined that student knowledge and identity scores were significantly higher after the semester-long program than before, with increases in complexity of knowing for White students and those who had never studied abroad and additional increases in social interactions for White students. Supplemental narrative analyses from a subsample of students indicated important themes of increased self-awareness, awareness of others, and breaking down barriers and comfort zones. We discuss practical implications for programs like ours, offering them as an essential component and complement for campus internationalization efforts, offering glocal options for students who cannot or will not choose immersive programs like study abroad and study away.

Skin-tone preferences and colourism within Hispanic children have been largely unexamined in the psychological literature. The objectives of the current study were to investigate Hispanic children's skin-tone preferences and the effect of assessor race and ethnicity on those preferences. To carry out the study, Clark and Clark's colouring task was revised and administered to a sample of 52 Hispanic children aged five to seven years. The sample was divided into three conditions, varying by assessor background (Caucasian, Hispanic and African-American). A pronounced preference for lighter skin tones was found among children in the sample, although this preference was moderated by the race and ethnicity of the assessors administering the task. Hispanic children appear to be susceptible to a pro-light skin bias and influence from assessor skin colour as young as five.

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