Date of Award
5-2025
Culminating Project Type
Dissertation
Styleguide
apa
Degree Name
Higher Education Administration: Ed.D.
Department
Educational Administration and Higher Education
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Rachel Friedensen
Second Advisor
Steven McCullar
Third Advisor
Kathryn Johnson
Fourth Advisor
Amanda Hemmesch Breaker
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
global perspectives, intercultural competencies, study abroad, island program, theory of intercultural maturity
Abstract
Previous research shows that studying abroad in college can increase the intercultural skills and global perspectives of students. Most studies assess these competencies immediately following the experience. This non-experimental descriptive survey study explored the relationship between studying abroad and global perspectives 20 or more years after the experience using the Global Perspectives Inventory (GPI). A control group that did not study abroad was included for comparison over the same time period. Focus on the impact of an island program and global perspectives was also explored. Findings of this study suggest that studying abroad had less of an impact on global perspectives in the long-term than participating in other worldview-altering activities after college. Parental level of education and short-term study abroad experiences also positively impacted global perspectives. Baxter Magolda’s Theory of Self-Authorship, which suggests that intercultural competence continues to increase over one’s lifetime as individuals engage in activities that result in self-reflection and acceptance of differences, can be applied as a continuation of King and Baxter Magolda’s Theory of Intercultural Maturity. The development of self-authorship typically takes place in early adulthood and continued throughout one’s lifetime, thereby serving as an extension of the intercultural maturity that commonly takes place during college.
Recommended Citation
VanSurksum, Amy, "Beyond Study Abroad: Long-Term Influences on Global Perspectives and Intercultural Development" (2025). Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration. 99.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/hied_etds/99
