Fostering intercultural competence: Impacts of a multi-destination study abroad program

209 Pages·2016·2.02 MB·English

Fostering intercultural competence:
Impacts of a multi-destination study
abroad program
Author: Amir Reza
Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:104141
This work is posted on eScholarship@BC,
Boston College University Libraries.
Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2015
Copyright is held by the author. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (http://
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Boston College
Lynch School of Education

Department of
Educational Leadership and Higher Education
(Higher Education)

FOSTERING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE:
IMPACTS OF A MULTI-DESTINATION STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM

Dissertation
by
AMIR REZA

Submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

May 2015
© Copy right by Amir Reza
2015
Fostering Intercultural Competence:
Impacts of a Multi-Destination Study Abroad Program
by
Amir Reza
Dr. Karen Arnold, Dissertation Co-Chair
Dr. Philip Altbach, Dissertation Co-Chair
ABSTRACT
The attainment of attitudes, knowledge, and skills that develop students’ intercultural
competence so that they may navigate the globally interconnected environment of the 21st
century is touted as an important learning objective for higher education (Deardorff & Jones,
2012). Colleges and universities strive to enhance this learning objective by offering a variety of
international opportunities; prominent among these is a period of study abroad. However, past
research indicates the results of intercultural development through study abroad are mixed. How
can education abroad contribute to students’ intercultural development? This study focuses on a
cohort of students who traverse through three countries (China, Russia, India) in the course of
one semester as they live and learn together, alongside faculty and staff from their home
institution. To better understand the features of study abroad programs that contribute to
students’ intercultural development, this study examined the real and perceived development of a
group of students (N=21) engaged in a multi-destination study abroad program utilizing a mixed-
methods approach. The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) scores of the 21 participants
increased by an average of 24.45 points (25%), an increase that exceeded the IDI gains in
previous studies. Programmatic conditions that cultivated students’ intercultural competence
included facilitated contact with natives, academic structure, student self-initiated exploration,
and multi-destination. Social and residential features of the program had the least impact on
participants’ intercultural development. The analysis of the participant narratives is indicative of
a web of interconnected features that provided the scaffolding for students to develop empathy,
recognize their own biases, challenge stereotypes and ethnocentric beliefs, and ultimately gain
knowledge and skills that enabled them to communicate and behave appropriately and
effectively in intercultural situations. The results of this study imply that a web of intentionally
designed features (e.g., multi-destination, faculty engagement, consistent reflection
opportunities, facilitated contact with natives, and IDI guided coaching and mentoring) provide a
solid scaffolding that accelerates students’ intercultural development.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I could not have completed this dissertation without the guidance, support, mentorship,
and kindness of many people to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. First, I am grateful to my
dissertation co-chairs, Dr. Philip Altbach and Dr. Karen Arnold. I began the Ph.D. program in
large part due to their inspiring scholarship. At times my progress was slow and they could have
easily given up on me, instead, they encouraged me to push forward. They are talented teachers
who supported me when I needed it most and challenged me to keep going and to persevere on
this long journey. I benefited from having a class with Dr. Dennis Shirley early in my Ph.D.
program. He is a gifted teacher who opened my eyes to critical and historical lenses of
educational systems. I have carried the wisdom he imparted on me and am grateful for his
guidance throughout my dissertation.
Although at times writing the dissertation was a lonely process, I could not have
persevered without the positive support of so many people in my life. My peers, Dr. Lori Tenser,
Dr. Kara Godwin, Dr. Katie O’Dair, and soon-to-be Dr. Mark Kenyon constantly shared their
perspectives and allowed me to ask them questions at all hours of the night and day. I am
grateful for their friendship.
My colleagues at work have been supportive cheerleaders and provided substantive
feedback on the many ideas I have had throughout the dissertation journey. Their flexibility has
allowed me to prioritize my dissertation and I am thankful for their patience and positive support.
I am particularly grateful for Jamie Kendrioski, Lorien Romito, Marjorie Feld and Betsy
Newman for acting as sounding boards and helping me keep a sense of humor.
Regrettably, I cannot name the participants in this study, but I am forever indebted to
them for providing me the time for interviews, and their thoughtful and eloquent journal entries.
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Their BRIC journey became my BRIC journey and I learned more than I could have imagined,
and grew as a scholar.
Growing up on four continents means that I have a large extended family of friends and
teachers scattered in many corners of the world who have been a source of guidance and
inspiration throughout my educational journey. My Connecticut family, Bahman and Andrea,
were a source of guidance for me in my most impressionable years as a teenager. My gratitude
for their mentorship and love goes beyond any words that I can offer here. My siblings in Iran
(Fariba, Fereshteh, Ali, Frazaneh, and Mohammad) were my earliest teachers and although I
have lived far away from them for so many years, the lessons they taught me in those early years
have carried me through the many ups and downs of living abroad. I stand on their shoulders as I
strive to be a better scholar and a more compassionate human being.
I am eternally grateful to my parents, Ahmad and Zahra, who sacrificed immensely by
allowing me to leave home at a young age to pursue education abroad. Their emphasis on
education and their love has been a source of inspiration for me as I studied in Iran, Niger, and
the United States. Their unmatched patience and kindness push me to strive for excellence. I am
also thankful for the support of my parents-in-law, John and Patricia Nightingale, especially Pat
who spent countless months helping my family with school drop-offs and pick-ups and taking
care of my children when I was focusing on the dissertation and unable to be there for them.
I am indebted to my children, Kayvan and Yasmeen, for their patience and for enduring
my absence from so many family activities, and for reminding Baba to be a good student and to
work on his Ph.D. Most of all, this dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Tracey, who has been
my biggest supporter and has sacrificed so much, so that I could continue to make progress. Her
intelligence, humor, and compassion have fueled me time and time again during this long
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journey. Her selfless love and devotion for me and our children is awe inspiring. I could not have
completed my Ph.D. without her.
iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments i
List of Tables vii
List of Figures viii
Chapter 1: Introduction
A. Statement of the Problem 1
B. Purpose of the Study 5
 Research Questions 6
C. Significance of the Study 7
D. Definitions 9
 Study Abroad 9
 Multi-Destination 9
 Intercultural Competence 9
 Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity 9
 Intercultural Development Inventory 10
 BRIC 10
E. Organization of Study 10
Chapter 2: Intercultural Competence 12
A. Introduction 12
B. Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity 12
C. Towards a Consensus on Definitions? 17
D. Conclusion 21
Chapter 3: Higher Education Internationalization & Study Abroad 23
A. Introduction 23
B. Study Abroad and the Quest for Intercultural Competence 25
C. Historical Perspectives: Study Abroad at U.S. Colleges
& Universities 27
Chapter 4: Literature Review 35
A. Introduction 35
B. Growth of Study Abroad Research and Scholarship 35
C. Study Abroad and Global Citizenship 36
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D. Influential Scholarship Driving Growth in Research 39
E. Calls for Paradigm Shift in Study Abroad Practice
and Research 46
F. Study Abroad Skeptics 55
G. Conclusion 59
Chapter 5: Research Design 63
A. Overview 63
B. Research Questions 64
C. Secondary Questions 65
D. Participants and Program Description 65
E. Data Collection 69
 Intercultural Development Inventory 70
 Journals 70
 Interviews 71
F. Assessment Instruments 72
 Interview Protocol 72
 Journals 73
 Intercultural Development Inventory 73
G. Protection of Participants 83
H. Data Analysis 84
 IDI Data 84
 Qualitative Data (journals and interviews) 85
H. The Researcher 89
Chapter 6: Findings and Analysis 91
A. Introduction 91
B. Quantitative Findings 91
 Pre-BRIC IDI 91
 Post-BRIC IDI 92
C. Qualitative Findings 103
 Facilitated Contact with Natives 106
 Academic 109