Every year, more students in the United States participate in international service learning (ISL) programs through their universities (IIE, 2016; Boone, Kline, Johnson, Milburn, & Rieder, 2013). Over the past two decades, the participation rates of international education programs have more than tripled (IIE, 2016). The students participating in these programs, however, are not representative of the student bodies at these universities (IIE, 2016). While ISL programs have been touted as a powerful, transformative experience for students, not much is known about how students’ sociocultural identities are influenced (Bringle, Hatcher, & Jones, 2012; Crabtree, 2008). This study examined how the process of literally crossing boundaries between countries, as part of an ISL program, related to the figurative crossing of sociocultural identity boundaries for a cohort of students traveling to Ghana. Through the use of qualitative research methods, the purpose of this study was to shed light on how students negotiate the sociocultural identities, so ISL programs can support students, from all identity backgrounds, in their identity development. It examined how students negotiated their sociocultural identities throughout an ISL program and compared the identity negotiation experiences of traditionally represented and underrepresented students. Participants included a cohort of eleven students, five who were traditionally represented within ISL and six who were traditionally underrepresented within ISL, along with members of their host families and the directors of the organizations where they served. Interviews, observations, focus groups, and documents such as student blogs and reflective essays were all used as sources of data. Through utilizing the concept of boundary crossing and the theory of intersectionality, this study found that students tended to negotiate their identities 1) through confronting the notion that they could be wholly defined by one identity, 2) by grappling with the narrow boundaries of various identity categories, and 3) through romanticizing their new context’s culture. The study also found that traditionally represented and underrepresented students differed on how they tended to negotiate their identities with the former focusing inwardly for their identity negotiations and the later focusing outwardly. Implications for policy and practice and directions for future research are discussed in light of these findings. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 2, 2018. / boundary crossing, Ghana, identity, identity negotiation, international service learning, intersectionality / Includes bibliographical references. / Helen Boyle, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Myers, University Representative; Ayesha Khurshid, Committee Member; Stacey Rutledge, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_653495 |
| Contributors | Reid, Kimberly L. (author), Boyle, Helen N. (professor directing dissertation), Myers, John P. (university representative), Khurshid, Ayesha (committee member), Rutledge, Stacy A. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (240 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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