Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Studying abroad and capital: A comparative case study of American and international students

Thu, March 12, 11:30am to 1:00pm, Washington Hilton, Floor: Concourse Level, Jefferson East

Abstract

Objectives
Studying abroad is an important path of accessing knowledge from the international community, and it has gained increasing attention in recent years. Some scholars believe that studying abroad is the only way through which students can fully immerse themselves in a culture and produce a life-changing experience – specifically, their knowledge about another country, relationships with the people, and the perspective of being a globalized citizen.
The United States has become the most popular destination country for international students. The Open Doors 2014 Report reveals that 66,408 more international students enrolled in American universities in 2013-14 academic year, marking a record high after six consecutive years of growth. On the other hand, the enthusiasm for American students to study abroad has also hit an all-time high, with 289,408 American students studying abroad for academic credit in 2012-13 academic year. Moreover, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France and China remain the five largest destination countries.
My objective is to provide an in-depth description of American and international students’ study abroad experiences. Questions include:
1. How do American and international university students describe their study abroad experiences?
2. What are the reasons that American and international students choose to study abroad?
3. What forms of capital do American and international students intend to accumulate during their studying abroad respectively? And what forms of capital have they gained?
Theoretical framework
I plan use Pierre Bourdieu’s Capital Theory to understand students’ study abroad experiences. Bourdieu (2007) categorizes capital into economic capital, cultural capital, and social capital. These forms of capital are fluid, and interchangeable under the circumstances. Although educational systems contribute to the reproduction of existing structures of socio-economic inequalities with respect to class, race, gender and other dimensions of social differentiation, students can break the cycle by actively seeking different forms of capital by studying other languages and different cultures. Studying abroad provides students an expedited pathway to access the elite knowledge in the international community and to become a cultured global citizen.
Research design
This research study will be a multiple case study that examines the phenomenon of study abroad through the experiences of four American university students who participated in university-affiliated study abroad programs in China, Japan, and the United Kingdom for at least one academic year, and four international students (from China, South Korea, Iran, and Ghana) who have studied in American universities for at least one year.
Data sources
All participants in this study come from a large mid-western university. From 2011 to 2013, more than 30 American students have participated in the university-affiliated Advanced Language Studies program in Beijing, Tokyo, and the United Kingdom for one year. Interview invitations were sent out through email to these students via the University International Office, and I have chosen four of the students who replied the email to be my participants. They come from International Studies, Political Science, and Industrial Engineering majors. The international participants are four undergraduate students who have studied in the United States for at least one year, majoring in business, computer science, and political science.
Preliminary Results
Through the preliminary analysis of two American participants’ and two international participants’ interviews, some common themes have emerged.
Superficial reasons for participants to study abroad include languages learning, sightseeing, and culture study. Interviews further suggest that the economic power of the destination countries and a career in international relations are also important.
Regarding the forms of capital gained by American participants during study abroad, social capital and cultural capital have been identified. Although American participants initially set out to seek cultural capital, they have quickly learned to value the importance of social networking, and started to accumulate social capital in their daily activities. For international participants, they have intended to gain more cultural capital in the United States because the higher education is believed to be valued over the higher education in their origin countries. Moreover, they hope to convert the cultural capital and social capital into more economic capital once they graduate.
Significance of the study
This research fills in the research gap by identifying forms of capital gained by American and international students in study abroad programs. It also makes contributions to the practice of current study abroad programs. If more universities realized the value of study abroad education, administrators would be more inclined to make investment in it so as to help students in the pursuit of more capital. Finally, this study can inform current policy makers in the making of educational policies.

Author