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EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF STUDY ABROAD
Magdalena Chica-Garzón Office of International Programs
Georgetown UniversityWashington, DC
“Like a religion, a political ideology, or a scientific theory, a culture is a sort of paradigm. Living in another culture for an extended period of time forces a critical examination on one’s own assumptions about the world. Just as a crisis of religious faith or political beliefs often reopens the door to an extremely creative period in the life of an adolescent or young adult- regardless of whether the final outcome is rejection or reaffirmation of the original paradigm-so, too, with culture. In this sense, study abroad is often liberal education at its best.”
Taken from: Foreign Study Roundtable: “Culture Shock as a Learning Experience” Chip Peterson and Frank Miller, Transitions Abroad, Fall 1985
Survey Content
• Personal Demographics– Program/country abroad– Term abroad– Year abroad– Gender– Current career– Continued international
experience
• Georgetown experience– School– Major/minor– Latin American Certificate
program participation
• Impact of Study Abroad on:- Enduring relationships with
friends/host family from time abroad
- Language proficiency - Graduate school- Career choices and opportunities- Marketability in the work force- Life decisions (i.e. marriage, children's language etc.)- Political/religious beliefs and personal values- Community service activities and charitable contributions
Participants 1996-2005
Term Abroad
41%
46%
13%
Fall
Spring
Full Year
Gender
58%
42%Female
Male
Gender
65%
35% Female
Male
Latin America Spain
Term Abroad
30%
2%
68%
Fall
Spring
Full Year
Survey Demographics
Response rate
Latin America
Spain
156 (44%) 131 (20%)
M = 52 (35%)
F = 104 (51%)
M = 35 (16%)
F = 96 (22%)
F = 64 (42%)
S = 62 (39%)
FY = 28 (68%)
F = 3 (25%)
S = 62 (13%)
FY = 66 (34%)
Latin America
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Costa Rica
Dom. Repub.
Ecuador
Mexico
SurveyRespondents
Total Participants
Programs
32%
11%
6%5% 5%
30%
1%2%2%2%4%
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Santiago, Chile
San Jose, Costa Rica
Monterrey, Mexico
Valparaíso, Chile
São Paulo
Mexico City, Mexico
Bahia, Brazil
Quito, Ecuador
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Guadalajara, Mexico
Overall Impact
1% 15%
84%
Noinfluence
Somewhatpositive
Stronglypositive
13%
84%
1%1%1%Strongly
negative
Somewhatnegative
No influence
Somewhatpositive
Stronglypositive
Latin America Spain
Mean = 4.79Mean = 4.82
Relationships
Latin America
Spain Average
Host Family
82%
4.04
70%
3.90 3.98
Residence or other
18%
3.70
30%
3.90 3.82
Extremely poor Poor Below Average Above Average Excellent
What best characterizes your personal relationship with your host family or with the other students at the residiencia?
Self Assessed Language Proficiency
Oral Proficiency
Declined
Greatly
Declined
Somewhat
Remained
the same
Increased
Somewhat
Increased
Greatly
Average
Score
Latin America
0% 1% 2% 23% 74% 4.71
Spain 0% 1% 4% 24% 71% 4.67
Written Proficiency
Latin America
0% 1% 7% 45% 47% 4.39
Spain 0% 1% 9% 48% 42% 4.32
Self-Assessed Language Proficiency
• Students feel they make gains in their language skills while abroad
• Oral communication skills are perceived to improve more than written skills by the Georgetown students
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
declinedsomewhat
remained same increasedsomewhat
increasedgreatly
Ove
rall
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts
Oral proficiency
Written proficiency
Overal Average of Reported Increase
4.69
4.36
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
oral written
oral written
Self-Assessed Language Proficiency
Latin America
58%24%
18%
IncreasedInteraction withLocals
Used Spanish MoreFrequently withLocals/OtherForeign Students
Stayed Longer
Spain
18%
82%
Not Lived with aHost Family
IncreasedInteraction withLocals
Looking back on your experience, is there anything you wish you had taken
advantage of to further improve your language skills?
Graduate Education
Latin America
• Law (23%)• Education (18%)• Business (17%)• Regional Studies (11%)• Other (31%)
Spain
• Law (30%)• Political Science (16%)• Business (14%)• Communication (9%)• Health (9%)• Other (22%)
Latin America
21%
53%
26%
Yes, completed a degree
Currrently pursuing a degree
No, did not pursue graduatedegree
Spain
29%
33%38%Yes, completed a degree
Currrently pursuing a degree
No, did not pursue graduate degree
Graduate Education
Comparative Influences on Decisions
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
to pursue the degree the field of study the graduate schoolattended
Avera
ge
Latin America
Spain
None Little Somewhat Much A great deal
Graduate Education
To pursue the degree
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Female
Male
Percentage of respondents
A great deal
Somewhat
Not at all
The field of study
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Female
Male
Percentage of respondents
A great deal
Somewhat
Not at all
The graduate school attended
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Female
Male
Percentage of respondents
A great deal
Somewhat
Not at all
Males who participated in Latin American programs showed a trend to be more strongly influenced by
study abroad in their educational choices than females
Career: Skills Acquired Abroad
Latin America Spain P value
Foreign Language proficiency 3.75 3.31 .003
Cultural knowledge 3.44 2.30 .000
Major/minor/certificate at Georgetown 3.42 2.93 .007
Familiarity with host country 3.01 2.46 .001
Community service abroad 2.25 1.33 .000
Internship abroad 2.06 1.45 .002
How much influence has each of the following factors had on your career?
None Little Somewhat Much A great deal
Career: Choices and Preparation
Latin America Spain P value
Your qualifications 3.67 3.47 .107
Competitiveness in the job market 3.62 3.37 .056
Type of organization you have worked for 3.36 2.80 .000
Type of work you do 3.25 2.71 .001
Your work-related travel destinations 2.83 2.50 .110
How much influence do you feel your overseas studies experience has had on the following aspects of your career?
None Little Somewhat Much A great deal
Current Occupation
Latin America
57
33
26
21
17
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Other
Education
Business
Graduate Study
Non-profit/Volunteer
Pro
fes
sio
ns
Spain
53
25
22
18
13
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Other
Law/Law School
Graduate Study
Business
Management
Pro
fes
sio
ns
Life decisions
Latin America Spain P value
Foreign language of your children 3.79 3.54 .136
Determining your core values 3.17 2.76 .007
Determining your political position 3.04 2.08 .000
Guiding your community service 2.85 1.84 .000
Choosing a place to live 2.76 2.30 .009
Choosing your partner/spouse 2.49 1.91 .004
Selecting charitable contributions 2.48 1.43 .000
Guiding your religious/spiritual beliefs 2.03 1.47 .000
Most Difficult
What Would You Consider the Most Difficult Aspect of Your Time Abroad?
63%
9%
8%
20%Personal
Linguistic
Cultural
Academic
Latin America
What Would You Consider the Most Difficult Aspect of Your Time Abroad?
58%
12%
11%
19% Personal
Linguistic
Cultural
Academic
Spain
Personal• Homesickness /Being away from family and friends• Loneliness• Making local friends/ of similar age• Finding the right host family• Being sick in a foreign country• Leaving
Linguistic• The language barrier
Cultural• Trying to immerse oneself in a foreign culture• Machismo
Academic• Taking regular university classes in Spanish• Meeting home university requirements
Most RewardingPersonal
• Meeting people with a different cultural background
• Living with a host family• Traveling (Spain: 5.3%, LA: 5.5%)• Changes of attitude and personal growth• Volunteer Opportunities (only LA)
Linguistic• Language Improvement/Proficiency
Cultural• Experiencing a foreign culture• Renewing ties with Latin America
Academic /Professional• Experiencing a different educational
system• Internship opportunities
What Would You Consider the Most Rewarding Aspect of Your Overseas Studies
Experience in Latin America?
16%
29%
6%
49%
Personal
Linguistic
Cultural
Academic
Latin America
Spain
What Would You Consider the Most Rewarding Aspect of Your Overseas Studies Experience in
Spain?
60%14%
22%
4%
Personal
Linguistic
Cultural
Academic
Application for OS professionals
At Home UniversityMarketing to students, academic departments and
university officials• Impact
– Overall: strong positive of 84%– Professional education and career choices– Job opportunities – Personal decisions– Personal growth
• Language improvement
Advising:• Goal setting - most satisfactory and most difficult
– Personal relationship with locals (host family and others)– Long term low importance of travel
Application for OS professionals
• On site• Writing courses or tutorials• Choice of quality housing (host family or
residencia)• Increase program provided opportunities to
interact with locals (lang. exchange, mentors, comm. Service, internships, etc.)
• Controlling size of programs or creating mechanisms to help students “avoid Americans”
"After studying in Chile, and graduating from GU, I went to live in Brazil to work with street children. I met my wife there (she's Brazilian). We've been married for almost two years now. I also teach Spanish and global studies in a high school.
Thank you! I can't explain enough how the program changed my life, for the better!”
“ I just wanted to let you that the weekend before last I married the Spaniard I met almost 10 years ago in my dorm in Madrid. Dozens of people from our old dorm on the Gran Via were at our wedding in Mexico. I still have many close personal friends in Spain – including the two pen pals Georgetown arranged for me before I arrived ! (I have recently been to both of their weddings in Spain).
Studying abroad in Madrid was an amazing, life-altering experience for me.”
Contact Information
Magdalena Chica-GarzonAssistant Director of Overseas Studies
Office of International Programs
Georgetown University