ERIC Number: ED663578
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 227
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3844-4211-0
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Reframing Education Abroad as Social Justice Work: A Case Study for Alumni Engagement
Dana Elizabeth Tottenham
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin
The purpose of this study considers the intersections of education abroad and alumni engagement through a social justice lens. This research examines the "cultural imperative to systemic reform" (Kozaitis, 2013, p. 139) through the perspective of higher education's integration of education abroad as a core high-impact practice (Kuh, 2008). Prior research has called into question the problematic roots and essentialist nature of study abroad (Johnson, 2009; Vavrus & Pekol, 2015; Woolf, 2006; Zemach-Bersin, 2007). Practitioners and scholars alike have argued for the importance of increasing accessibility in education abroad (Acevedo, 2021; Diversity Abroad, n.d.; Lu et al., 2015). Building upon these important shifts in priorities, this research design is oriented on two frameworks: critical consciousness (Freire, 1970; Watts et al., 2011) and an alumni engagement conceptual framework (CASE, 2018; Fleming, 2019). The qualitative methodology approach draws upon anthropological praxis and ethnography (Bernard, 2006; Creswell & Poth, 2018; Kozaitis, 2000). Data sources included background surveys, participant reflective journal entries, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group with U.S. study abroad alumni. My researcher's self-reflexive field journal embodied the practice of autoethnography (Ellis et al., 2011). The findings show how transformative the study abroad experience has been on alumni's personal lives, the level of career integration in their professional development, and the direct correlation between program design as it relates to social justice orientations. The themes emphasize the resistance to traditional definitions of alumni engagement, the sense of alumni connections through multiple orientations, the role of reunions as a platform for intentional engagement, and the level of inspired action for philanthropy. The recommendations for policy and practice include alumni-level (inclusive approaches for alumni engagement), institutional-level (campus partnerships), and professional organizational-level (expansion of metrics and research agendas). This project addresses a gap in the scholarship by focusing on longitudinal, qualitative data for action (Ogden et al., 2020). The study considers the critical reflections of alumni over time and examines pathways of critical action for alumni engagement initiatives. If a common refrain is that "studying abroad was the most transformative thing that I did while in college," then higher education administrators should consider how the positive experiences of these high-impact practices influence alumni engagement and its potential role in increasing access for the next generation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Study Abroad, Social Justice, Alumni, College Graduates, Educational Change, Higher Education, Access to Education, Transformative Learning, Professional Development, Educational Anthropology, Praxis, Educational Practices, Education Work Relationship, Financial Support
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A