Cultivating Cultural Exchange: Improving University Study Abroad Programs

254 Pages·2017·1.28 MB·English

by  Katherine Crawford

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Honors Theses Lee Honors College
12-9-2017
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Katherine Crawford
Western Michigan University, [email protected]
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Crawford, Katherine, "Cultivating Cultural Exchange: Improving University Study Abroad Programs" (2017).
Honors Theses. 2894.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/2894
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Cultivating Cultural Exchange:
Improving University Study

Abroad Programs
A Thesis for the Lee Honors College

Katherine Wei Li Crawford
Lee Honors College | Western Michigan University
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Table of Contents
Introduction 5
Methodology 11
Theory 13
Step One: Plant the Seed 15
Step Two: Explore 16
Step Three: Respect 17
Step Four: Engage 18
Culture Shock 18
Findings 21
Student E 21
Student J 22
Student L 23
Student A 24
Student D 26
Student M 27
Pre-Departure Preparations 28
Conclusion 33
APPENDIX I 36
Interview Guide 36
Student Questions 36
Professor Questions 36
Appendix II 37
Interview Transcriptions 37
Key 37
Dr. D – Thailand 38
Student M – Thailand 73
Student A – Dominican Republic and Thailand 87
Dr. L – Dominican Republic 101
Student D – Dominican Republic 125
Student J – Dominican Republic 144
Dr. E – Germany 164
Bibliography 252

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Introduction

Studying abroad in today’s day and age is important. As Thomas Friedman says in his
book The World is Flat, thanks to technology we are experiencing a time of interconnectivity
that has never been seen before. And he’s right. Outsourcing is becoming more and more of a
viable solution and international teams work digitally to achieve a unified goal through video
conferences and email. History has never had such a global mindset and as technology grows,
we are seeing even more to come in the future. The Cambridge Journal of Education and
Science went so far as to say that, “institutions of higher education arguably have a
responsibility to develop curricula that foster ‘global citizens.’” This call to action highlights the
importance of an international mindset for future leaders and the general public. This can be
achieved through studying abroad.

One field of study in particular that is greatly influenced by globalization is business. One
professor described study abroad as a way to, “prepare you to be a global businessperson,
global citizen, you don’t get to just participate in the US anymore if you’re a businessperson and
really you shouldn’t do that even if you’re just a citizen of Earth you know you should have
some understanding.” As of today, the Haworth College of Business (HCoB) offers various study
abroad and exchange programs in over fifteen countries. HCoB has one of the largest study
abroad programs at Western Michigan University (WMU). International business is not a new
subject to the business world. Businesses cannot afford to not be international these days and
HCoB has taken note. As stated on the Global Business Center’s website, “Here at WMU and
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the Haworth College of Business, we need to do all that we can to make sure that our students
don't fall off the edge of the intensely competitive flat business world.” (About, n.d.). European
students speak multiple languages and are internationally educated. In the European Union, the
Schengen Agreement creates a border-free zone which allows EU members to travel freely
from country to country for work and education opportunities (Koikkalainen, 2014). With EU
youth having this advantage in the workforce, American students need to prepare themselves
for a competitive market through their experiences abroad. In order for HCoB students to
compete in the globalized business world, they need to not only experience another culture,
but also understand it through cultural immersion.

Western Michigan University already has an active study abroad department which sends
close to 600 students abroad yearly to over 40 different countries worldwide (Application
Process, n.d.). There are five different types of programs and all majors are welcome. Western
Michigan prides itself on its global engagement; it’s one of the three pillars established in 2011
by President Dunn. As described in the WMU News, these pillars were created to represent
Western’s identity, goals and initiatives for the coming year as stated by the president in his
annual State of the University speech. He went on to list two specific goals related to global
engagement: doubling the number of Broncos abroad to 1,000 in five years and helping the
campus be more culturally aware. Although the former has not yet been achieved, with only
around 5% of all Broncos studying abroad in 2015 (Fast Facts, n.d.), HCoB alone represents over
22% of all WMU student exchanges with programs in thirteen different countries, ten long-term
programs and six short-term programs.
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However, I believe we can do better. WMU focuses on two offered programs: professor-led
and WMU exchange programs. The professor led program, much like the name, involves a
professor directing a group of American classmates travelling abroad. They stay together as a
group and sightsee with a guiding professor. The WMU exchange is a partnership with various
universities worldwide. Students come to Western and in exchange Broncos are sent abroad.
Generally, the students take classes with Americans and other foreigners with little class time
with the locals. However, these are not what I would consider “cultural” exchanges.

Seven out of the seven WMU students I interviewed thoroughly enjoyed their
experiences, yet, what could they really tell me about the place they had visited? I want WMU
students to experience a complete cultural immersion. For this paper, I will define cultural
immersion as, “an awareness of how one is informed by one’s own culture and makes sense of
cultural differences subjectively.” (Rodriguez, 2000). Students should learn firsthand about the
traditions and social habits of another culture and be able to comprehend and respect another
worldview, though it may differ from their own, in order to better to prepare them as
competitive players in this globalized business market. How does an exchange go from being
just fun to cultural immersion? There are many factors to consider. This thesis project sprang
from my own study abroad experiences and from wanting to know how during some I became
immersed in the culture, while during others I remained an outsider. These experiences led me
to break down several study abroad factors and their importance, including time, language, and
interactions with locals. Time seemed irrelevant considering two of my previous exchanges
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were both a yearlong and they had been drastically different. Language seemed important;
breaking down the language barrier by learning either a foreign language or local dialects. Being
a primary way to express ourselves, language can tell people a lot about the culture based on
what is and isn’t important. Was interaction with locals relevant? My university exchanges
varied but no connections had been made. Was native cuisine important? What made a cultural
exchange? Were there universal experiences that helped students feel more included in a
foreign culture? Could they be replicated?

More specifically, I want to examine if HCoB students experience cultural immersion
through WMU’s study abroad programs and how the university can improve their cultural
immersions during the most popular, short-term exchanges. For this paper, I am only analyzing
three of the HCoB short-term study abroad programs. These are faculty led two to three week
long voyages with twenty to twenty-five students. Short-term programs are popular because of
their limited time frames. Students feel pressured to follow strict course guidelines to complete
their university experience in four years, however, that leaves little room for a semester or year
abroad. Also, as one of the students explained, “I would say for anybody that’s considering
going [on] study abroad, I feel like a 2-week trip is like the perfect amount of time for your first
trip it’s not too long to where you’ll feel uncomfortable or homesick.” The limited time frame
represents a digestible amount of time for students to travel, half of whom have never left the
country before.

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My findings discovered that the majority of students who participate in HCoB short-
term study abroad exchanges do not experience cultural immersion. Through the use of a scale
to measure cultural immersion created by a WMU professor, Dr. Duke, the majority of the six
students analyzed did not surpass step two out of the four steps. As later described, this implies
that their experience was entertaining, but lacked cultural sensitivity and awareness.

This thesis will cover the findings of interviews with professors and students who have
participated in or led HCoB short-term study abroad programs. The first section will describe
this interview process and my chosen methodology. The second section will describe my core
theory used for analysis - Dr. Duke’s study abroad scale. In this section, I will also divulge into
the understanding of culture shock. I will use Kalervo Oberg’s 1954 definition, the
anthropologist who coined the term, “Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results
from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse.” This refers to the negative
tension release that occurs after the stress buildup due to encounters with cultural differences
or the general unfamiliarity of the foreign culture. I will examine how the negativity of the term
can influence a student’s time abroad and the importance of defining the term in pre-departure
preparation. For this paper, cultural differences are defined as, “the integrated and maintained
system of socially acquired values, beliefs, and rules of conduct which impact the range of
accepted behaviors distinguishable from one societal group to another” (Adler, 1997). Simply
put, cultural differences are the contrasting ways of life from that of your own. This includes
but is not limited to language, nonverbal cues, and social protocol. The third section will then
use the described scale to examine each student’s experience and rate their level of cultural
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