CREATING STUDY ABROAD MARKETING THAT APPEALS TO MEN by Brice Everett Lynn ...

184 Pages·2016·1.36 MB·English

CULTURE ISN’T CUTTING IT:

CREATING STUDY ABROAD MARKETING THAT APPEALS TO MEN

by
Brice Everett Lynn
Bachelor of Arts, University of Pittsburgh, 2011

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of
School of Education in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts

University of Pittsburgh
2016
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UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

This thesis was presented

by

Brice Everett Lynn

It was defended on
March 29, 2016
and approved by
Maureen McClure, Associate Professor, Administrative and Policy Studies
Todd Reeser, Professor, Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
Thesis Director: Maureen K. Porter, Associate Professor, Administrative and Policy Studies

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Copyright © by Brice Everett Lynn
2016
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CULTURE ISN’T CUTTING IT:
CREATING STUDY ABROAD MARKETING THAT APPEALS TO MEN
Brice Everett Lynn, M.A.
University of Pittsburgh, 2016

Despite the fact that the number of study abroad students continues to increase each year and that
the types of study abroad programs continues to diversify, women still outnumber men in study
abroad participation at a rate of almost three-to-one. This qualitative study seeks to understand
low male participation in study abroad as a result of negative perceptions caused by the ways in
which study abroad is marketed to students. I selected male study abroad alumni to participate in
personal interviews through which I sought to understand the criteria, motivations, and outcomes
that men had for their overseas programs. A variety of study abroad marketing materials were
also collected, with a specific focus on social media. Using human, cultural, and social capital as
a framework for analysis, I conducted a comparative analysis to determine whether marketing
materials reflect the most compelling benefits that would motivate men to enroll. Additionally, I
used normative and dialogic frameworks to understand the ways in which men’s views of their
gender inform their study abroad experience. This study shows that study abroad marketing is
not reflective of the practical and pragmatic motivations that men have for studying abroad.
Overall, study abroad professional in charge of marketing should focus less on “fun” and
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“cultural” experiences and instead emphasize the practical and pragmatic benefits of study
abroad in order to attract more men.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1
1.1 IMPORTANCE AND PROBLEM STATEMENT........................................... 2
1.2 RESEARCH QUESTION ................................................................................... 3
1.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..................................................................... 4
1.3.1 Capital Theory Framework ......................................................................... 5
1.3.1.1 Human Capital Theory ........................................................................ 5
1.3.1.2 Cultural Capital Theory....................................................................... 7
1.3.1.3 Social Capital Theory ........................................................................... 9
1.3.2 Ma sculinity .................................................................................................. 11
1.3.2.1 Normative Masculinity ....................................................................... 12
1.3.2.2 Dialogic Masculinity ........................................................................... 14
1.4 SUMM ARY ........................................................................................................ 15
2.0 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .......................................................................... 17
2.1 HISTORY OF STUDY ABROAD ................................................................... 17
2.2 ACADEMIC MISCONCEPTIONS ................................................................. 19
2.3 STUDY ABROAD AND FUTURE CAREERS .............................................. 22
2.4 PARENTS, PEER, AND UNIVERSITY INFLUENCE ................................. 26
2.5 MARKETING AND OUTREACH .................................................................. 28

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2.6 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ 30
3.0 METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN ......................................................................... 32
3.1 RATIONALE FOR COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ....................................... 32
3.2 INSTITUTIONAL SETTING .......................................................................... 33
3.2.1 Study Abroad at the University of Pittsburgh ......................................... 34
3.2.2 Study abroad participation at Pitt ............................................................ 35
3.3 PHASE 1: INTERVIEWS ................................................................................. 36
3.3.1 The Researcher’s Role ................................................................................ 36
3.3.2 Interview Population .................................................................................. 38
3.3.3 Data Collection and Instrument ................................................................ 41
3.3.4 Limitations ................................................................................................... 42
3.4 PHASE 2: MARKETING ................................................................................. 44
3.4.1 General Advice Pages and Social Media ................................................... 44
3.4.2 Program-Specific Materials ....................................................................... 45
3.4.3 Limitations ................................................................................................... 46
3.5 PHASE 3: DATA ANALYSIS .......................................................................... 46
4.0 FINDINGS AND ANALYIS: CULTURAL CAPITAL .......................................... 49
4.1 FOREIGN LANGUAGE................................................................................... 49
4.1.1 Marketing Analysis ..................................................................................... 54
4.2 CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION .................................................. 56
4.2.1 Marketing Analysis ..................................................................................... 58
4.3 GLOBAL CONTEXT ....................................................................................... 60
4.3.1 Marketing Analysis ..................................................................................... 63

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4.4 CULTURAL IMMERSION ............................................................................. 66
4.4.1 Marketing Analysis ..................................................................................... 68
4.5 TRAVEL ............................................................................................................. 69
4.5.1 Marketing Analysis ..................................................................................... 71
4.6 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ......................................................................... 74
5.0 FINDINGS AND ANYALSIS: HUMAN CAPITAL .............................................. 76
5.1 ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS ABROAD ................................................... 76
5.1.1 Marketing Analysis ..................................................................................... 81
5.2 INTERNSHIPS, RESEARCH, AND HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES............ 85
5.2.1 Marketing Analysis ..................................................................................... 87
5.3 SOFT SKILLS ................................................................................................... 90
5.3.1 Marketing Analysis ..................................................................................... 92
5.4 DIFFERENTIATION........................................................................................ 94
5.4.1 Marketing Analysis ..................................................................................... 96
5.5 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS .......................................................................... 98
6.0 FINDINGS AND ANAYLSIS: SOCIAL CAPITAL ............................................. 100
6.1 FRIENDSHIP AND THE PERSONAL NETWORK .................................. 100
6.1.1 Marketing Analysis ................................................................................... 103
6.2 THE PROFESSIONAL NETWORK ............................................................ 104
6.2.1 Marketing Analysis ................................................................................... 106
6.3 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ........................................................................ 107
7.0 MEN’S RELATION TO STUDY ABROAD MARKETING .............................. 109
7.1 MARKETING OF LITTLE INFLUENCE PRIOR TO DEPARTURE .... 109

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7.2 NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS OF MARKETING POST-PROGRAM...... 110
7.3 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS. ....................................................................... 112
8.0 MEN’S VIEW OF THE GENDER DIVIDE ......................................................... 114
8.1 NORMATIVE VIEWS .................................................................................... 115
8.2 DIALOGIC EXPLORATIONS OF MASCULINITY ................................. 117
8.3 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ........................................................................ 118
9.0 FINDINGS AND ANAYLSIS: OTHER MUSINGS ............................................ 120
9.1 PEER INFLUENCE ........................................................................................ 120
9.2 FAMILY INFLUENCE................................................................................... 125
9.2.1 Parental Concerns ..................................................................................... 125
9.2.2 Family Support.......................................................................................... 127
9.3 ADVISOR AND FACULTY INFLUENCE .................................................. 128
9.4 ABILITY TO PURSUE OTHER EXPERIENCES ...................................... 131
10.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................... 133
10.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 133
10.2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 135
10.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY ..................... 138
10.3.1 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................ 138
1 0.3.1.1 Human, Cultural, and Social Capital ........................................... 139
10.3.1.2 Normative and Dialogic Masculinity ............................................ 140
10.3.2 Met hodology .............................................................................................. 142
1 0.3.2.1 Institutional Setting ........................................................................ 143
10.3.2.2 Data .................................................................................................. 143

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10.3.2.3 Data Analysis ................................................................................... 144
10.4 THE RO LE OF CAPITAL ............................................................................. 144
10.5 THE ROLE OF MASCULINE IDENTITY .................................................. 151
10.6 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................ 153
10.6.1 Overarching recommendations ............................................................... 154
10.6.2 Social Media as Marketing ....................................................................... 155
10.6.3 Program-Specific Marketing ................................................................... 156
10.6.4 General Advice Pages ............................................................................... 157
10.7 F URTHER RESEARCH................................................................................. 158
10.8 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ........................................................................ 159
APPEND IX A ............................................................................................................................ 160
APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................ 162
APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................ 164
APPENDIX D ............................................................................................................................ 165
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 166

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