Investigating A Study Abroad Program As A Reflective Development Of Intercultural Competence For Students In A Hispanic-Serving University

This dissertation project investigates the broad problem of evaluation and effectiveness that have diminished the opportunities that study abroad can potentially offer as part of higher education in the U.S. The research aim was to develop a reflective plan of implementing study abroad to achieve the transformation of intercultural competence of students of higher education in a Hispanic university. The research questions were deduced from a combination of views from literature since the 1920s affirming study abroad as elitist endeavor, female, liberal arts and academically weak. Using a quantitative data methodology, the study were collected data from students who participated in study abroad and returned to campus using a retrospective method known as post-then-pre data collection. The sample universe was over 300 students with a 12 percent response rate. The findings reveal language was not a predictor variable in the development of intercultural competence; however, the study affirmed that study abroad assists students to develop intercultural competence suggesting that there were other variables missing in study abroad such as block-time for immersion. These results builds towards accountability for effective evaluation of study abroad as a legitimate and valuable part of U.S. higher education in the era of globalization.