The effect of short-term study abroad experience on American students’ leadership skills and career aspirations

Abstract

Purpose Building on existing study abroad literature, the purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of both short-term and long-term study abroad programs on students’ leadership skills and their career aspirations. Design/methodology/approach A sample of college students were invited to complete an electronic survey about their experiences with study abroad programs. This survey included study abroad participants and non-study abroad participants and aimed to assess areas such as academic performance, leadership qualities, international exposure, and study abroad. Findings The authors’ results suggest that study abroad programs have a significant effect on leadership skills and career aspirations. Short-term programs, in particular, were found to impact both leadership skills and career aspirations. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this study lie within the nature of the survey data used. Surveys are subjective and it was left to the respondent to determine, for example, what defines a leadership position. Nonetheless, the survey data collected implies how students feel about study abroad programs and the results provided implications about the importance of these programs. Social implications According to the results, study abroad programs have value to students who participated in these programs. The authors conclude that study abroad is an important supplement to post-secondary education and participation in such programs should be encouraged. Originality/value This paper contributes to the study abroad literature by focusing on short-term programs, which have not been heavily studied in the field. The authors’ results suggest that study abroad has a significant impact on students, thus has practical implications for college students and educators.

Does studying abroad matter? The case of entrepreneurial intention

“…For instance, Cubillos and Ilvento (2012) pointed out that studying abroad enhances self-efficacy by promoting optimum conditions for learning a foreign language. The regression model of Geyer et al. (2017) illustrated the positive relationship amongst studying abroad, leadership experience and career aspirations, and Oftedal et al.…”

“…(2021) pointed out that exogeneous factors, such as technological and economic and policies should be considered during higher education. Furthermore, Geyer et al. (2017) pointed out a lack of data on specific impacts of studying abroad.…”

Systematic review of short-term study abroad outcomes and an agenda for future research

“…Researchers have highlighted extensive and diverse benefits of undertaking STSA programs (Goldstein, 2022;Roy et al, 2019;Drake et al, 2015;Geyer et al, 2017).…”

“…Researchers have highlighted extensive and diverse benefits of undertaking STSA programs (Goldstein, 2022; Roy et al , 2019; Drake et al , 2015; Geyer et al , 2017). Unfortunately, in spite of rapidly growing empirical STSA research to date, there have been no systematic reviews with a focus on the comprehensive outcomes of STSA only.…”

Here is the Place to Begin Your Explorations: An Autoethnographical Examination into Student Teaching Abroad

“…Involvement in these programs has increased steadily since 1989, with 313,415 students studying abroad for credit in the 2014 academic year (Engel, 2017, p. 4). In fact, participation in study abroad programs has seen a 232 percent increase from 1985 to 2002 and has tripled in the past two decades" (Geyer, Putz, & Misra, 2017, p. 1042. Duration and formality of these experiences can vary anywhere from one week to a year, and from independent trips to faculty-led excursions.…”