Communicate the value of study abroad programs for community college students

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-5
Author(s):  
Halley Sutton
Author(s):  
Monija Amani ◽  
Mikyong Minsun Kim

This chapter addresses the findings of a multilayered study regarding perceptions of study abroad coordinators and students related to community college students' decisions to engage in global programs abroad and the factors that motivate their selection of a destination. In-depth interviews of study abroad program coordinators and students from three community colleges located in urban, suburban, and rural areas provided rich and diverse perspectives regarding students' access and engagement in study abroad programs and the reasons that affect their choices of destinations. Findings showed synchronicity and alignment between the study abroad coordinators' and students' perspectives. However, study abroad coordinators revealed that institutional administrators or leaders who have established connections with certain destinations influence program and destination offerings, which in turn broadens or limits students' selection of study abroad choices. Discussions and implications related to community college students, faculty, institutional leaders, and policymakers provide insight on how to make study abroad more accessible to community college students and expand their choice of destination.


Author(s):  
Rosalind Latiner Raby

Community college literature uses three distinct narratives to explain why few community colleges offer education abroad and why limited numbers of community college students study abroad. This chapter explores the viability of these narratives and counters them by showing that non-traditional community college students understand the role of education abroad to enhance their personal and professional growth, are capable of making sound decisions, and are able to balance work, school, and family. The chapter concludes with a discussion on how weak institutional choices remain the most important element that negatively impacts the choice to study abroad.


2020 ◽  
pp. 009155212098202
Author(s):  
Melissa Whatley

Objective: The purpose of this study is twofold. First, this study explores individual student characteristics, specifically those related to demographics, financial need, academic characteristics, and social and cultural capitals, related to study abroad participation among community college students. Second, this study identifies when over the course of their studies community college students are most likely to participate in study abroad. Method: Data consist of student records provided by a large community college located in the U.S. Southeast. An event history model was used to estimate the relationship between both time-variant and time-invariant student-level indicators and study abroad participation. Smoothed hazard estimates were extracted from this model to explore the likelihood of study abroad participation over time. Results: Findings indicate that race/ethnicity, gender, state-residency status, age, need-based aid eligibility, field of study, and enrollment status (full- or part-time) significantly predicted study abroad participation. These results at times stand in contrast with findings from the literature on study abroad participation among students in the 4-year sector. Smoothed hazard estimates indicated that community college students were more likely to study abroad the longer they were enrolled at the community college. Contributions: These results speak to ways in which community college students access capital resources to promote participation in study abroad and highlight unique aspects of community college study abroad programming. Results also provide a foundation for recommendations for practice that would serve to open access to education abroad at community colleges.


Author(s):  
Melissa Whatley

The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, it aims to call attention to the fact that study abroad does take place in the community college sector. Second, this study aims at modeling the relationship between institutional profile characteristics and variations in study abroad participation at community colleges. In this sense, it addresses community college students' ability to access education abroad using the institution as the unit of analysis. Specifically, this study employs data from both the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to examine the role institutional characteristics, such as an institution's gender and race/ethnicity composition and its location, play in community college students' participation in study abroad. The hurdle model analytic technique adopted here allows for the examination of these factors' relationship to both an institution's provision of study abroad opportunity and the percentage of students that participate. Results have implications for both policymakers and practitioners who aim to increase the prominence of education abroad in the two-year sector.


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