Studying Abroad Annotated Bibliography

Universities in the United States should devise a policy that mandates students to study abroad since the global workforce has international influences which necessitates the need for students to learn the value and importance of other cultures. Altbach, Philip. “Foreign Study: Patterns and Challenges.” International Higher Education, no. 30, 2015, pp. 24. Altbach views foreign study as a big international form of business.

He proceeds to reveal that at least 1.8 million students in the world study outside their countries. Majority of these students travel from middle-income and developing countries to a limited number of industrialized countries where they seek to further their studies.

On the global scale, majority of these students are self-supporting, pay for their own living expenses as well as their university fees. Altbach views this as a considerable flux which is introduced to the marketplace since countries aim at maximizing their advantages.

In addition, countries which foster study abroad programs seek to increase their influence as well as to earn money which is generated from the degrees’ trade. This article provides me with an ideal introduction which gives an overview on the approximate number of international students in the entire world. Hopkins, J. Roy. "Studying abroad as a form of experiential education." Liberal Education 85.3 (1999): 36-41. Hopkins analyzes the importance study-abroad programs. More specifically, he discusses the role that the programs play in enhancing experimental learning experiences. He notes the goals of the study abroad programs which include enriched education opportunities, understanding other cultures as well as appreciation of diversity. In addition, the author analyzes other opportunities that are associated with such programs such as networking and career development.

Hopkins analyzes several case studies that detail the experiences of study-abroad students. Lastly, he discusses the practical issues which are associated with the program. They include need for curricular and financial planning, health and safety as well as the expenses that the students incur. Based on the analysis provided by this article, I believe that the information will be instrumental in providing details pertaining to the nature of planning that students who take part in such programs engage in.

Moreover, studying abroad facilitates the acquisition of a new language. In this regard, Garcia analyzes the importance of acquiring a new language as students move to new areas and countries for their studies. As such, it is revealed that students who build strong professional and social networks during their studies abroad eventually benefit linguistically from the experience. For this reason, believe that the United States should make it mandatory for students undertaking their degree programs to study abroad as the initiative helps them to learn new languages and to create new networks. Kitsantas, Anastasia. "Studying Abroad: The Role of College Students' Goals on the Development of Cross-Cultural Skills and Global Understanding." College Student Journal 38.3 (2004).

The source analyzes the broad impact that study abroad initiatives have on college students’ global understanding and cross-cultural skills. In addition, the journal describes the role that the students’ goals for the initiative had on their development of the expected outcomes. In order to gauge the impact of the study abroad program, the study queried two hundred and thirty-two students who were involved in the study-abroad program. A factor analysis of the study revealed that the students had listed three major objectives of taking part in the program. First, the students aimed at enhancing their cross-cultural skills through diverse learning experiences. Second the students were interested in becoming highly proficient in their area of study through cultural diversity.

Finally, the students’ goal was to socialize and enhance their social skills. Based on the results of the study, the students’ overall cross-cultural skills as well as their global understanding improved significantly. For this reason, the source provides me with the reasons why the United States 'universities should embrace the idea of having their students study abroad since its evident that that they can enhance their social and cross-cultural skills. Wortman, Thomas I. "Psychosocial Effects of Studying Abroad: Openness to Diversity." (2002). According to Wortman, there are numerous psychosocial effects that are associated with studying abroad. More specifically, students who study abroad are more likely to showcase openness to diversity as compared to those who solely study in the United States.

These findings were revealed after a study was conducted among The Pennsylvania State University students who had taken part in a study abroad program. The study also encompassed students who had exclusively studied in the university. The results showed that there was a significant increase in the willingness to embrace diversity among students who had studied abroad. On the other hand, students who hadn’t participated in the program showed no change in their openness to diversity. This source is therefore important to my project as it compares the difference in the willingness to embrace diversity between students who had studied abroad and those who had spent their entire academic life studying in the United States.

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