In response to increasing demand for intercultural competency in global work environments, universities in the United States have expanded opportunities for study and internship abroad. However, there is comparatively little research on the program design for internship abroad programs and how it affects intercultural competency. This study presents a new curriculum model for the internship abroad called Live-Learn-Work (LLW) and evaluates its effects on the cultural intelligence (CQ) of undergraduate student participants in three different settings: Seoul, South Korea; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Lima, Peru. The design of LLW is unique in that it integrates a theoretical framework from Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) with a measure of cultural competency, the cultural intelligence scale (CQS), and provides a holistic approach to the internship abroad. Utilizing a pre- and post-test design, this study analyzed the effect of each program on the four subscales of CQ (cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral), and discussed their interrelations. The study concluded that the program design had a statistically significant positive effect on cultural intelligence, but that this effect was uneven across CQ subscales and programs. These results point to the need for further research on the relationships among CQ dimensions.
In recent years, the demand for more culturally competent candidates has risen as employers seek workers highly adaptable to the global marketplace. Study abroad internship programs offer a rich training ground for college students to gain valuable international and intercultural career experience. This study examined the effects of experiential program design on the cultural intelligence of participants in an international internship program. College students from a large Midwestern university were enrolled in an international internship program in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Lima, Peru; or Seoul, South Korea. The program design incorporated principles of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) to increase student reflection on their experience and engage them in the ELT cycle. Participants were scored on the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) before and after the internship, and pre-test and post-test scores were compared and analyzed. Findings indicated significant growth in participants’ cultural intelligence. The intentional incorporation of experiential learning principles in the design and implementation of internship abroad programs has clear potential to increase participant’ intercultural competence and develop their skills for the 21st century workplace.
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