Study Abroad and the Easy Promise of Global Citizenship: Student Conceptions of a Contested Notion

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed exponential growth in study abroad participation. During these same years the promise that studying abroad will develop students into Global Citizens has been a nearly ubiquitous feature in promotion of the experience. Yet, Global Citizenship remains a highly contested concept that promoters of study abroad rarely define, adequately explain or explicitly align with program outcomes. Among students as the main consumers of education abroad, little in the literature has so far documented how they conceive of Global Citizenship. This paper details findings from 29 in-depth interviews and 118 surveys of study abroad students from 41 higher education institution throughout the United States who were asked to explain how they understand and define Global Citizenship. Using variation theory and phenomenographic methodology, the study presents a typology showing five distinct ways these students conceive of Global Citizenship: 1) global existence; 2) global acquaintance; 3) global openness; 4) global participation; and 5) global commitment. These categories provide a student-centered vocabulary grounded in empirically derived data and available to study abroad providers to help align promises of Global Citizenship with desired program outcomes.

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