The purpose of this study was to explore and make meaning of the lived experiences of traditional first-generation college students who studied abroad for academic credit through a college or university-sponsored study abroad program for at least one undergraduate academic term. Semi-structured narrative interviews were conducted with five…

This study examines perceptions of the benefits and barriers to study abroad amongst undergraduate students studying at the Soltis Center for Research and Education in Costa Rica, in 2018 and 2019. A total of 49 students representing five different study abroad programs from three institutions participated in the study. Cost, personal obligations,…

International education opportunities are vital to students' personal, professional, and educational development. Pre-COVID era research has found that students seek to participate in international education to learn about other cultures, enhance career development, gain world enlightenment, attain personal growth, or for leisure. However, minimal…

This article highlights an increasingly popular form of experiential learning, namely overseas exchange programs. Experiential learning is regarded as a valuable way to link up theoretical knowledge and practical skills in hospitality and tourism education. Although some studies have addressed the importance of experiential learning, the factors…

Time abroad is an ever more common feature of study for many university students. Students of languages, in particular, are encouraged or required to spend a period of time abroad as an integral component of their degree. While research on study abroad is abundant, studies addressing the socialisation of Irish students during their time abroad are…

COVID-19 largely brought U.S. education abroad to a halt. As universities and education abroad organizations bolstered risk management policies, students slowly returned to study abroad programs. Our phenomenological study explored the meaning that students who studied abroad during the pandemic gave to their experiences. We found that the essence…

This qualitative case study examines, through an educational equity lens, the motivation, challenges, and assessment associated with international program development as appraised by the faculty and administrators in a district of multiple community colleges. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four faculty members and…

Study abroad (SA) provides a space and place for second language (L2) learners to be challenged in terms of their target language skills and intercultural awareness. In order to appropriately equip learners, a task-based approach seems ideal to identify learners' specific needs (Long 2015). The present study reports a multiphase needs analysis…

The aim of this paper is to give an insight into the perspectives of Erasmus students. The focus is on their experience, in particular, and how and to what degree ELF speakers in the study became accustomed to a new educational environment, and whether any obstacles materialised in the process. The goal is to demonstrate the significance of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to deal with the topic internationalization of higher education institutions (IHEI), in terms of the research they engage in. The main motivation for the study is to understand the role of researchers in the internationalization of the institutions in which they work through the academic activities they…

The pandemic-induced shift to online learning has increased the relevance of Online Intercultural Exchanges (OIE) as a means to navigate student mobility challenges. Our study investigates the role of OIE in the internationalisation of higher education, focusing on how students' perceptions of the benefits of internationalisation through OIE have…

As gender is socially constructed, gender attitudes, expressions, expectations, and identities may differ based on their sociocultural contexts. This project sought to understand interactions between gender and culture through the experiences of three undergraduate study abroad students who are trans and/or gender expansive. Utilizing the thematic…

This paper uses photo-cued interviewing and grounded theory approaches to understand student empowerment resulting from study abroad programs. Using data from 62 students who traveled to 9 countries on several different programs, this paper highlights what student empowerment as an outcome of study abroad can look like and how student empowerment…

While intercultural competence is commonly a goal of university study abroad programmes, debates around criteria for assessing this competence have highlighted the challenges in appropriately identifying students' intercultural learning in relation to specific university programmes. To overcome these issues, this research moves beyond…

This article reports on the results of undergraduate students that studied abroad (SA) and primary underlying factors behind their successful language study. The 189 participants were undergraduate students that studied abroad (Spain, Peru, and Honduras) in one of three advanced Spanish language semester-long programs through a Midwest four-year…