Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2006. / Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 139 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 187 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-164).

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This dissertation explores how the Mexican state came to embrace study abroad as a key piece of national education policy. The study begins with the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917) and traces the changing politics and institutional pathways of student migration through 1982. During this period, hundreds and then thousands of Mexican students hailing from the country’s middle- and upper classes chose to finish their education in the United States. The dissertation’s central argument is that this student migration shaped the process of Mexican state formation in the wake of the Revolution. Even as scholarship programs responded to the impetus to modernize, achieve development, or foment science by importing foreign knowledge, youth demand for the chance to study abroad was a key yet unrecognized factor that explains why the state supports students’ transnational ambitions. By harnessing narratives of nationalism and modernization, Mexican youth pushed the state to develop institutions that granted international scholarships. Students aspiring to go abroad pioneered the political rationales that undergirded international education policy, which was then designed and implemented by foreign-trained Mexicans. As privileged youth, students shaped the state not by organizing but by leveraging their social and cultural capital as individuals. This dissertation points out that migration was a strategy that appealed not only to Mexico’s working-classes, but also to its “best and brightest” who sought to improve their prospects with a sojourn abroad. The dissertation’s first chapter examines how study abroad, a long-standing practice of the Mexican elite, became politicized after the Revolution. It traces debates in the press to show how a lack of state discourse about student migration gave other voices the opportunity to define the stakes of study abroad. Chapter two analyzes revolutionary-era scholarship granting practices, showing that paternalism persisted from the Porfiriato to the post-Revolution. However, the chapter reveals that Mexican students introduced revolutionary ideas into their petitions for scholarships, reframing their studies as an act of patriotism. The third chapter examines three major scholarship programs in the mid-twentieth century. It looks at both selection practices and the demographic profile of those who were chosen. These programs favored an already-privileged sector of young Mexicans, its university graduates. Chapter four, also set in the mid-twentieth century, explores the lived experiences and understandings of identity of Mexican students in the United States. This chapter argues that they pursued an ideal of middle-class mexicanidad during their sojourn abroad but found that this status was one of fragile prestige. The last chapter, covering 1960 to 1982, considers the genesis and early years of Mexico’s most important, and still extant, international scholarship granting institution, the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología. This scholarship program served as a kind of social policy for young, upwardly-mobile Mexicans even as it obeyed the logic of development and science policy. The dissertation includes tables with statistical information on the Mexican students in the United States, with more detailed data for students in scholarship programs run by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Banco de México.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (January 13, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-83)

This mixed methods study explored and measured the multi-dimensional construct of global-mindedness as it applies to the study abroad professional and defines the term study abroad professional. Hett’s (1993) Global-Mindedness Scale and the five dimensions of responsibility, cultural pluralism, efficacy, globalcentrism, and interconnectedness was utilized to determine the global-mindedness of study abroad professionals. Additionally, open and closed-ended questions were used to identify similarities across the study abroad professionals and to help define and give meaning to the term study abroad professional. Research findings lead to the identification of four themes. Theme one focused on characteristics that lend themselves to defining the term study abroad professionals. Theme two focused on the individual characteristics and their association with Hett’s five dimensions of global-mindedness. Qualitative data were used to support the various research questions whose answers became part of the working definition for a study abroad professional. Theme three focused on study abroad. And, theme four focused on evolving job announcements. International education, specifically study abroad, has become a specialized and recognized profession. What has emerged are specific academic requirements, professional training, and various professional and personal experiences being a requirement for entry into the field. Individuals entering the study abroad profession need to have an advanced degree, most likely in education or international/global studies (although other majors are acceptable), they will have studied, interned, volunteered, worked, or lived abroad, they will have good communication skills, be open-minded, organized, flexible, patient, empathetic, culturally sensitive, interculturally competent, and will have previous experience in the field. These findings have led to the definition of a study abroad professional. a study abroad professional is a globally-minded administrator or advisor with international and professional experiences, educational credentials, and personal traits that help them to relate to, communicate with, and support students, faculty, and staff, while fostering a safe study abroad environment that meets the needs of the institution and diverse student populations. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The increasing number of U.S. college students studying abroad raises policy concerns about student success at school and their future career development. Therefore, this dissertation revisited the education production function, built up a comprehensive conceptual framework, summarized empirical evidence reported in prior studies, conducted research that described the characteristics of U.S. students studying abroad and used quasi-experimental research methods (e.g., propensity score matching and instrumental variables) to study the impact of studying in a foreign country on students’ at-college learning outcomes and post-college labor market returns after graduation. This dissertation is composed of three chapters on the impact of the experience of study abroad on students’ academic achievements, global perspectives at college, and post-college labor market outcomes, respectively. In Chapter I, I examined the study abroad student population and the impact of this international experience on students’ academic achievements. Based on a random sample of college students from the National Survey of Student Engagement, I used a propensity score matching (PSM) approach and found some significant influence of study abroad on student grade point averages. I also identified heterogeneous effects of study abroad program design (e.g., duration, logistics, and curriculum). Chapter II was prompted by the rising public attention to global mindset. Based on data from the National Survey of Student Engagement, I generated an index of global perspectives and found a positive impact of studying abroad. Results suggested that such international exchange increased student global perspectives and intended to better prepare U.S. students with global perspectives in this increasingly global economy and interdependent world. Finally, Chapter III was inspired by the wide array of returns to education literature. Using a nationally representative sample of Bachelor’s degree recipients from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Survey, I examined private returns to education abroad and found that study-abroad alumni are hired more quickly after graduation with higher starting salaries, compared with those who did not have such international experiences. I also found variations across subpopulations and different parts of the earnings distribution. In addition, findings from the above three national representative samples consistently showed that the participation rate of African American students is notably lower than that of the other ethnic groups. The top majors for study abroad students are Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences. In contrast, Health majors are dramatically lower for this group. Natural Sciences, Business, and Engineering majors are slightly lower, but not remarkably so. The proportion attending private institutions in the study abroad group was also higher than the sample average. These results suggested that study abroad in college education has positive impacts on student outcomes: students with study abroad experiences do better in school and fare better in the job market. Therefore, policymakers and college administrators may need to invest more in study abroad programs and take steps to find ways (e.g., study abroad scholarships, peer advice, parental support) to extend international opportunities for more students, especially those demographics that are poorly represented in the study abroad population. Hopefully in the near future, instead of “Can I afford to study abroad?” students will ask: “Can I afford NOT to study abroad?”

This dissertation explores the relations of independent American universities abroad to one another and to American higher education through a mixed-method comparative case study of three eras (1919-1945; 1946-1990; 1991-2017). Applying insights from the study of organizations and social movements, it investigates 1) the formation, evolution, and eventual maturation of an organizational field of American universities abroad; and 2) the strategies field actors utilize to align frames about American universities abroad with values of potential supporters in the United States. The study employs both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze data that come from archives, news media, institutional websites, interviews, and an original database. Findings have implications for study of international higher education, American higher education, and American foreign relations. I argue that over the course of a century, the American university abroad has emerged as a distinct institution and structural feature of American higher education. Episodic cooperation among various American universities abroad has served to organize the field to the extent that its “rules” eventually became institutionalized. Instances of continuity and change in the field’s rules are often the result of pressures emanating from U.S. higher education and foreign policies. Meanwhile, the field of American universities abroad, representing the frontier of American higher education, has continually enlarged the latter’s boundaries with each successive period of global expansion.

The number of American undergraduate students participating in study abroad programs is increasing annually. Educators, questioning the quality and impact of students’ learning and their inability to articulate experiences while abroad, have looked to improve intercultural communication. Reflection is frequently recommended as a pedagogical tool to help students examine and connect their experiences to larger ideas of culture, society, and globalization. However, there are few examples in research literature of study abroad students’ written reflection to different audiences and in digital contexts. This study explored how undergraduate students wrote about their study abroad experiences in a digitally mediated, pedagogical context with young American audiences from underserved backgrounds. It inquired how pedagogically-oriented curriculum did or did not support students’ intercultural learning and processes of reflection. Through document analysis and a qualitative survey of 30 students, and interviews with seven key informants, the study analyzed the products and processes of reflection and writing. The study found that the undergraduate sojourners represented themselves as travelers who had overcome institutional and socioeconomic barriers in order to pursue their academic and personal goals. Participants wrote about warmth, belonging, and their experiences of receptivity by local people and expressed openness and motivation to write for an authentic audience. A minority of the students wrote from a self-interrogative, implicative perspective where they considered ideas of privilege and critically examined cultural norms. Similarly, a small number questioned the content of the curriculum and tone of their writing, perhaps because of the curricular constraints and presentation of the positive benefits of learning through travel. Overall, the structure of the curriculum facilitated students’ communication as thoughtful citizens not just of their local communities, but also of the world, as they considered their audiences, their position as American travelers, and their relationships with local people. The study supports structured and free-form writing to authentic audiences as a tool for cultivating reflection, exploring identity, and making global and local connections in study abroad contexts. It urges educators to reflect on the goals and conditions for cultivating openness to locals and distant audiences and critical awareness of one’s cultural and social identity.