Scholarly Commons

Understanding Student Intentions to Study Abroad in a Pre-departure Context

As cultural awareness becomes an increasingly important trait in today’s world, study abroad plays an even more important role, particularly in higher education. While many studies focus on the study abroad experience in terms of acquisition, this study builds on existing research, offering insight on student intentions and factors from a pre-departure perspective. This study includes observing study abroad informational events as well as interviewing four students, two academic advisers, and a study abroad faculty representative at a liberal arts institution. I found various factors relevant to students’ selected locations. Human and cultural capital theory offers a grounded context of how an individual’s SES on top of their acquired skills influences their affordability and motivations to study abroad in college. Foreign language interest and distinctions between high-density destinations versus low-density ones were also factors that in some cases affected students’ interest or lack thereof to study abroad.