Abstract
This study describes how experiences abroad impact U.S. low-income, first-generation ethnoracially minoritized participants’ sense of time (i.e., rhythms or changes involved in social processes) and space (i.e., how movement is practiced, experienced, apprehended, and embodied). Participants in this study reexamine, reallocate, and reappropriate time and space as a result of their experience studying abroad. Notably, I explore the temporal aspects of study abroad to reflect the circumstances of participants’ lives. I also expand on spatiality as participants’ confrontation with social time shifts their conceptualizations of temporality. Through this, participants enact practices at odds with hegemonic constructs of ageism, nationalism, heteronormative experiences, and the neoliberal logic of time.
Introduction
Scholars have predominantly investigated United States (U.S.) study abroad opportunities as a resource for global citizenship, intercultural development, career readiness, and language acquisition (Berg, 2007; Isabelli-García et al., 2018; Stone and Petrick, 2013; Twombly et al., 2012). While student experiences often yield these benefits, U.S. first-generation, 1 low-income, minoritized student mobility is more complex than the transactional portrayal of study abroad as a means of accruing these benefits. Consequently, this has led to an ontological assumption in the literature that the benefits of study abroad are expected to extend to all students, regardless of their social group identity. These prevailing perspectives on the benefits of study abroad are characterized by their universalist assumptions that tout the benefits of study abroad as extending universally across identities and subject positions (Acevedo, 2023a). Between 2015 and 2020, 70% of all U.S. study abroad participants were white (IIE, 2021). Thus, universalist assumptions tend to center on the lived experiences of white students abroad.
This article focuses on the temporal experiences of students who are at the margins of study abroad—first-generation, low-income, ethnoracially minoritized students—and tells the stories of what study abroad does for them from their vantage point. Thus, the study questions the extent to which the perceived benefits of study abroad are as universal as they are portrayed. Drawing from inductive coding of semistructured interviews with study abroad alumni, I ask: How does studying abroad influence perceptions of time and space among first-generation, low-income, ethnoracially minoritized participants?
Beyond the universalist assumptions of studying abroad, more critical scholarship explores alternate benefits. These include increased forms of community cultural wealth (Wick et al., 2019), critical thinking (Doerr, 2015), sustainability-related attitudes and behaviors (Zhang and Gibson, 2021), and study abroad as an emancipatory and agentic experience for Black women (Willis, 2015). The present study joins this small but growing body of literature interested in benefits that extend beyond dominant understandings in the field and dominant populations in study abroad. Moreover, this paper is in conversation with the limited scholarship on the temporal dimensions in higher education (e.g., see Bennett and Burke, 2018; Bunn et al., 2019; Brooks et al., 2021; Duncheon and Tierney, 2013; Shahjahan, 2015), student migrant studies (Kang, 2018; Cheng, 2014), and more specifically addresses the gap in the study of politics of space and time in study abroad (Naidu, 2023; Simpson and Bailey, 2021).
Like Naidu (2023) and Simpson and Baily (2021), I challenge dominant assumptions in time and education literature by engaging with the temporal relations of study abroad. Whereas Naidu (2023) explores how temporal dimensions contribute to developing intercultural capacities for Australian students studying abroad in Indonesia, Simpson and Baily (2021) interrogate the saliency of gender and temporality of white men studying abroad. This study contributes to the study of time and space, particularly in the educational context, by examining the temporal dynamics of an oft-ignored population, first-generation, low-income, ethnoracially minoritized students in study abroad. This is important given the tendency to highlight the benefits of study abroad despite the failure to examine how experiences of marginalization shape the distribution of these benefits (Acevedo, 2023b). The study identifies pathways marginalized groups can pursue to engage in contention against dominant norms of time governance. I theorize that these pathways can be notably subversive as participants challenge the conventional structure of study abroad by redefining their use of time typically governed by neoliberal logic.
I refer to “temporal” as any phenomenon related to meaning-making and time-related changes (Adam, 1998, 2004). Space refers to the multidimensional extent to which objects exist, events occur, and which is affected by embodiment (Howson, 2004). For the purposes of this study, the embodiment of space is an active force that shapes participant experiences, perceptions, and behaviors (Jamal and Hill, 2004). In this view, participant bodies are seen as central to how they understand and interact with the space around them (Berger and Luckmann, 1967; Heidegger and Stambaugh, 1996). Although scholars of higher education are making use of temporal dimensions of students and learning (Brooks et al., 2021), faculty experiences (Shahjahan, 2023; Shahjahan et al., 2022), academic work–life (Vostal, 2015), and more expansive conceptions of time to understand neoliberal logics 2 operating within the academy to reimagine teaching and learning (Bunn et al., 2019; Shahjahan, 2015), these concepts largely remain peripheral within the literature on study abroad. Higher education scholars have yet to address how meaning-making processes of time may be crucial in informing how students experience and relate to time and space abroad. Bringing a focus on temporalities into study abroad allows us to reconsider the temporal realities of students as they perceive, negotiate, and experience the passing of time and embody space.
In the following pages, I explore the social construction of time and its connection to capitalism and engage with theoretical insights about time and space that have influenced my approach. After describing my research methods, I draw on data from study abroad alumni themselves to explore the benefit of temporal awakenings that emerged from the data. I consider the temporal benefits of study abroad and examine how participants contend with social time at the intersection of age, sexuality, class, nationality, and immigration. I find that the benefits of study abroad for low-income, first-generation, ethnoracially minoritized students are experienced in remarkably different ways than depicted in dominant literature.
Theorizing time in study abroad
I build on Castree's (2009) perspective that elements of time and space are fundamental components of capitalism's core, inherently intertwined within the system itself. In this view, capitalism has a distinctive spatiotemporality. In this complex and dynamic process, different aspects of producing, distributing, exchanging, consuming, servicing, and disposing of goods are all shaped by the need to realize surplus value over time (Castree, 2009). The unique interaction of capitalism with space and time is closely related to how some communities and regions are marginalized in the pursuit of economic development and profits. Capitalism's drive to realize surplus value affects how and where resources are allocated, often leading to uneven development. This dynamic shapes unequal spatiotemporality, with certain areas and populations bearing the brunt of economic exploitation and exclusion. The complexity of capitalism's spatiotemporality reflects how economic activities and pressures influence and exacerbate these disparities.
Under capitalism, time forms the foundation for the structured workday, weaponized to increase productivity and obscure the substance of value (Valle, 2015). Everything, including time, is assigned a monetary value (Zambrana, 2018). This system forces marginalized communities to generate value that exceeds the cost of their labor (surplus value), a value which they do not benefit, thus enabling exploitation. Time shaped within social structures is both affective and neither linear nor uniformly experienced (Tsagarousianou, 2022).
For marginalized communities, time is often consumed by the struggle to secure subsistence, with little room for leisure activities, a notion antithetical to capitalist views of time. Yet, the capitalist governance of time does not persist without conflict, as struggles over spatiotemporality remain central to social conflict. Historically, working-class communities have resisted the extractive nature of capitalism (Valle, 2015). Centuries of struggle between capitalist classes and workers established the normal working day (Marx, 1977). Despite these resistance struggles, time and space are unequally distributed and remain at the center of social conflict.
Study abroad as an industry is inherently capitalist, rooted in systems necessitating financial capital for participation and part of an academic and travel industry situated within global power relations and economic systems (Collins, 2020; Doerr, 2022). Although it may be unintentional, study abroad programs have increasingly become avenues for students to engage in explicitly market-oriented and entrepreneurial activities (Collins, 2020). Study abroad is often presented as an investment in students’ future capital. It is framed as a way to enhance students’ resumes, expand their professional networks, and improve their potential in the workforce (Farrugia and Sanger, 2017). This perspective reflects the systems of social capital and economic grounding that underpin study abroad design, emphasizing their value in terms of future economic payoff (Collins, 2020). Thus, while study abroad can provide valuable leisure and personal growth experiences, it is also deeply embedded in economic and social systems that view it as a strategic asset for career advancement. This dual role underscores the complex ways in which study abroad is positioned within the broader context of higher education and economic expectations. Study abroad programs are embedded in the very structures from which I identify alternative conceptions of time and space. Thus, capitalism's governance of time is not fixed. Rather, the governance of time results from ongoing power struggles demonstrating that it is possible to challenge capitalist time governance.
This article seeks to illuminate some of the ways in which participants inhabit and engage with neoliberal logic that pervades their way of life. Moreover, it highlights emancipatory benefits that may reorient literature on the benefits of study abroad toward a disruption in discourse that portrays students as a homogenous population. Study abroad participants have pointed to ideational obstructions, dominant ideologies, and discourses that obstruct participants from conceptualizing an atmosphere of place beyond their immediate circumstances (Acevedo, 2023a). The capitalist system and neoliberal logic of governance structure the allocation of temporal resources and inform predominant notions of how time is to be spent. Crucially, this suggests that dominant understandings of capitalism may interpellate marginalized people to believe that experiencing time and space outside neoliberal logic is not within the scope of their trajectories. 3
Here, I consider two competing perspectives on time and space, including the neoliberal logic of time and space versus a more emancipatory logic of time. Using participant counternarratives, I examine how study abroad enables disruption of dominant neoliberal logics of time and space that ignites challenges of these logics. The development of alternative understandings of time and space can inform broader struggles to subvert the domination of its capitalist ordering. Emancipatory logics of time provide alternatives to the neoliberal logics of time, whereby space and time are means of exploitation. Breaking with the hegemony of neoliberal logics of time and space allows people to reflect and make meanings of their surroundings and consider alternatives to these logics rather than solely focusing on production under capitalist relations of labor.
How we use our time and locate ourselves spatially depends on the social relations in which we are embedded (Massey, 1994). Structures of inequality and different social positionings in relation to time, such as class, gender, race, or rurality, deeply shape experiences and perceptions of time (Bunn et al., 2019). This has profound implications for how individuals conceptualize their particular sense of time and the means by which it frames their understandings and actions (May and Thrift, 2003). Capitalism and its developments (i.e., time, space, and money make the world go round) are not the sole determinants of our understanding and experiences of space (Massey, 1994). Instead, Massey argues that other influences can impact our sense of time, space, and place, including gender, race, and other social relations. Following Massey's (1994) conceptualization of a sense of place and May and Thrift's (2003) understanding of social time, I find that participants develop a sense of temporal awakening while abroad. I define temporal awakening as a shift in a participant's perception of existence within time and space, leading to the possibility of new relationships with these dimensions.
This emancipatory notion of time and space emerges over the course of being abroad and disrupts hegemonic ideations of social time, such as the prioritizing of capitalist modes of labor and production. Here, it is important to distinguish the participants’ process of creating their own narrative from more commonly encountered (and privileged) narratives of upper-class white voyages of self-discovery in ‘exotic’ locales in the mode of Elizabeth Gilbert's (2007) “Eat Pray Love.” Rather, participants’ self-making emerges from the rigid confines of how they are legible in the U.S. The notion of temporal awakenings in this context is intended to underscore the ways in which participants can break away from hegemonic conceptions of time and space promoted by the coupling of modernity, liberalism, and capitalism (Gilmore, 2002). In other words, I find that study abroad presents participants with opportunities to remake the meaning of time and reallocate value to time in a way that is at odds with hegemonic constructs, including but not limited to ageism, nationalism, heteronormative experiences, and a neoliberal market evaluation of time.
Methodology
This article is part of a larger qualitative study on the lived experiences of first-generation, low-income study abroad alumni. The research sample includes 18 alumni participants who participated in a short-term study abroad program (i.e., approximately three weeks) between 2000 and 2019 with the nonprofit organization the Council of Opportunity in Education (COE). The mission of COE is centered on the advocation for the expansion of college opportunities for low-income, first-generation students with disabilities in all 50 states, Washington D.C., the Pacific Islands, and Puerto Rico. 4 Participants self-identified as Black, Latinx, Native American, Vietnamese, Burmese, or Biracial. Five participants self-identified as male, whereas 13 participants identified as female. Among those who disclosed their age, participants ranged from 19 to 67 years of age.
For the purposes of this paper, I will highlight five narratives that best represent the emerging themes identified in my analysis. These participants were selected because their stories encapsulate the diversity of experiences within the sample and offer rich insights into the study's central themes. The selection was guided by a rigorous process of thematic analysis, during which I identified key patterns and variations in how participants navigated their study abroad experiences. These five narratives provide depth and nuance to the analysis, illustrating the complexity of the temporal awakenings discussed.
This study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic and its mobility constraints, which necessitated one-hour semistructured interviews conducted via Zoom videoconferencing. The qualitative design of this study was deeply informed by a counter-storytelling methodology (Solórzano and Yosso, 2002), which seeks to elevate the lived experiences of those at the margins and to use these stories as a means to challenge and disrupt dominant narratives. To achieve this, I asked participants to reflect on the most beneficial aspects of the study abroad programs, the challenges they experienced abroad, what they learned most about their host country, and what they discovered about themselves, who they are, and what they value. These interviews provided a space for participants to share their stories in their own words, allowing for the emergence of rich, nuanced narratives that reflect the complexity of their experiences. By centering the voices of these participants, this study not only sheds light on their unique experiences but also confronts and redefines the traditional narratives surrounding study abroad.
I created a foundation of confidentiality standards and ensured participant consent at the start of the research process to safeguard information, participants, and, most importantly, trust. I considered the likelihood of disclosing identities with the potential to “out” participants who may have been critical of study abroad, their program, or the scholarship they have received to travel abroad with COE. Although my research strived, in every way, to protect alumni identities and to prevent the endangerment of their opportunities or potential opportunities, all participants insisted on using their identities and verbally consenting to use their first name rather than a pseudonym. Given the empowerment factor of identity disclosure for ethnoracially minoritized participants, I negotiated this by anonymizing other identity indicators, such as their higher education institutions or places of employment. Storytelling is a way for participants to provide their counternarratives and thus center their agency and desires (Solórzano and Yosso, 2002). Rather than silence participants by anonymizing their identities against their will, I chose to illuminate their unique experiences. I analyzed the data inductively by conducting open coding of the interview transcripts and reflective memos. Interesting and unexpected patterns emerged that truly captured the prominence of time, space, and temporality abroad.
A temporal awakening
In exploring the emerging themes of time, space, and temporality, I consider how time, temporality, and their effects were invoked throughout my interviews with participants. These experiences interrupt the linear and hegemonic notions of time and how and when life is supposed to be lived. For instance, Vickie studied abroad with COE in Spain through her Minnesota community college at 67 years old. Vickie identifies as biracial, a minister, and a mother of nine children. Her reflections on the intersection of time, age, and study abroad offer a rich example of how temporal concepts are deeply embedded in her experience. When Vickie applied to study abroad, she was acutely aware of the universalist notion that study abroad is an opportunity typically reserved for 18–21-year-old students. She admitted, “I'm a nontraditional student, so I wasn't sure if I'd even be accepted.” Vickie's voice cracks. Taking a moment to regroup, she continued, “I don't want to cry. But it changed my life.” As she recalls this moment, the uncertainty and emotion in her voice reflect the internalized age-based temporal boundaries she felt she was pushing against. However, it is important to recognize that the term “nontraditional student” is a deficit-framing label that defines students by what they are not rather than by their unique strengths or contributions (Smit, 2012; Yosso, 2005).
By identifying as a nontraditional student, Vickie acknowledged the societal norms that position younger, full-time students as the standard in higher education—a standard from which she deviates. This self-identification highlights the power of institutional and societal narratives that implicitly other (i.e., the notion of becoming socially excluded; AbdulMagied, 2022), students who do not fit the traditional mold. The term can reinforce the idea that older students, part-time students, or those with significant life responsibilities are somehow less prepared or less capable, which can contribute to feelings of doubt or a lack of belonging.
However, Vickie's narrative also challenges this deficit framing. Despite her initial doubts, she successfully navigated the study abroad experience and found it “life changing.” She reflects on how studying abroad at her age provided her with profound insights and a renewed sense of purpose, stating: I think my gifts and talents have been in me since I was born. But I think I would have used them differently had I studied abroad 30 years earlier. I think I could have become a senator or somebody powerful because I am a voice. Had I learned those things earlier, I would have used them in my daily life. And I have ever since I returned from study abroad. But I would have loved the opportunity to have youth on my side. It does make a difference.
Vickie's temporal awakening saturates her experience productively despite previously acknowledging youth as a powerful catalyst for change. Reflecting further on time, Vickie drew attention to health and national identity. “I learned so much from just living in Salamanca, Spain, walking those streets up and down inclines.” Vickie excitedly says, “I lost like 20 pounds!” You get used to it and feel so empowered and healthy. At night, you'd go out and see 90-year-old couples, arm in arm, they swayed together up and down the streets, or at 2:00 AM, you'd be walking down the streets, and there'd be young couples with their children playing guitars and dancing. And that really made me realize that in America, we're missing out on some stuff because we're not taking time to cherish every moment we have… When I came back from Spain, the busyness of the world really bothered me. The busyness of my community and the lack of interest in each other was quite painful for me.
However, this awakening also brought challenges. Upon returning to the U.S., Vickie found herself struggling with the disjuncture between the slower, more mindful pace she had embraced in Spain and the fast-paced, productivity-driven environment she reentered. She described this return to U.S. temporal norms as “painful,” highlighting her deep discomfort as she tried to reconcile these two conflicting temporalities. This discomfort was not just a personal struggle but a reflection of the broader societal pressures that dictate how time should be used and valued in the U.S.
In response to this tension, Vickie actively sought to retain the sense of autonomy and agency she had gained from her experience abroad. Rather than succumbing to the pressures to revert to her previous habits, she seized upon the insights from her temporal awakening to reshape her life meaningfully. She began prioritizing activities that allowed her to maintain a slower, more intentional pace, such as exercise and self-care, which she now recognized as vital to her well-being. This shift was not just about personal preference but it was an act of resistance against the dominant temporal norms of U.S. society.
Vickie explained that she had been a chaplain for 20 years and described a moment while abroad that changed her trajectory as a chaplain. I have seen that the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) community is forgotten, and they've been excommunicated from their churches, but they still love God. I want to start a program that will make them the center of their faith and allow them to die in the way they want to die. Studying abroad enhanced all of that for me. Sitting in those huge Catholic churches, the youngest was five hundred years old, and sitting there knowing that people that were straight, people that were gay, people who were Black, white, and Asian sat in the same pew that I sat in. And the presence of God was there, which you could never deny.
Prior to study abroad, the pursuit of healthier lifestyles and the development of new humanistic values were at odds with how Vickie perceived and responded to demands on her time. In this way, study abroad experiences can deliver a shock to the dominant logic of time governance and enable alternative perceptions of how time can be spent across space. The idea that time can be spent differently opens pathways for alternative ways of allocating time and of pursuing activities that hegemonic logics of time governance deem to be outside of the scope of possibilities. Study abroad can provide opportunities to challenge the dominance of hegemonic norms of time governance. In doing so, study abroad is a space where subversion can flourish.
“Solo vives una vez”. 5
A son of Vietnamese refugees, Long explained that since he was the first generation to be born in America, he had a lot of pressure from his parents to obtain an engineering degree. He stressed, “College was an opportunity for me to get out of poverty.” In 2013, as a community college student in the state of Washington, he studied abroad with COE in Spain. During the interview with Long, he continuously acknowledged that studying abroad impacted his narrative. “It allows you to disconnect from what societal pressures have put on you and allows you to create your own narrative.” Emerging from this was a temporal awakening that shifted his narrative and values at the intersection of identity. Reminiscing about his life prior to studying abroad, he said, “I was always chasing something, you know. I would definitely forget the now.” Long emphasizes the word now. I remember always declining so many offers to hang out with friends and opportunities to network. I was just so focused on the chase and the grind that I forgot about the now. I don't know if that is too spiritual or too deep, but I want people to really be cautious of what we can do now. You know, yeah, sometimes things suck, your situation. Yeah, you live in the hood, but what can you do now? I even came out over there. You know, to be my authentic self. It's like nobody knows me over here. And I can be whomever I want to be, you know, it made me feel like I can survive in another place as an individual and be independent. So, it exceeded my expectations, and I was able to just live authentically. I mentioned coming out during study abroad. I felt like that was something I couldn’t do back in the U.S., especially around traditional families. And so, it was kind of a test to see if this was something I could do. It felt empowering just to be able to make those decisions for myself.
Long's experience in Spain exemplifies how temporal awakenings can offer an escape from capitalist culture's exploitative and prescriptive norms, enabling individuals to explore and embody their authentic selves. Long made it a point to tell me, “I also got a tattoo after Spain.” He began laughing and said, “I don't know if that was the best idea, but it says “solo vives una vez” translated in English, “you only live once.” He smiled, “During that time, YOLO was a big thing.” He could not finish the sentence without laughing and said, “It sounds better in Spanish.” We started laughing together, and he continued, “You only live in the now.” Under the YOLO proposition, Long was able to reappropriate time and space while outside of the social and familial structures that obliged him to conform.
Reclaiming time
Elaborating on his life back home in California, Eros, a Mexican-American male who studied abroad in Salamanca in 2018, articulated the relationship between his family, money, and his experience abroad. “I tried to get on my dad's good side a lot. He was always an angry person because he has high expectations.” Referring to his family, he said, “They did not support me at all with going to study abroad because my dad, it's always about money to him. My dad has been stuck with this mentality that it's always money, money, money.” Structural binds such as class oftentimes motivate parents who have struggled economically to resist the intergenerational transmission of poverty by pushing their children to achieve more than they ever could. Despite the complexities surrounding disparities in intergenerational wealth, his father's focus on money and high expectations represented a broader cultural emphasis on economic success as a primary measure of worth, reflecting a neoliberal logic where productivity and financial gain are paramount. This focus often results in a high-stress environment where time is valued for its potential to generate economic returns, overshadowing the quality of interpersonal relationships and personal well-being. His reflection on money caused him to juxtapose the pace and interactions in Spain with the quality of life back in the U.S. The environment is very different because I'm used to more hostile neighborhoods where people are rude to each other. People were not always open-minded. But in Spain, it was the opposite. People were just more friendly. People were more open-minded. They really prioritized, not so much about work, like stress out because you have to work so hard—straight one hundred percent. It was more like enjoying your time with your family, your loved ones, and your friends. There is more of a focus on the present, not dwelling on the past and worrying too much about the future.
Eros's experience underscores how temporality is not merely a backdrop but a dynamic force that shapes and is shaped by socioeconomic contexts. Eros's encounter with a different temporal orientation in Spain gave him insights into alternative ways of living and interacting, highlighting temporality's role in perpetuating and challenging existing structures of inequality and productivity. Eros transcended the limitations of his previous environment and adopted a more holistic approach to life, demonstrating the transformative power of reimagining spatiotemporality.
Temporal and spatial nostalgia
Brilianny, a Dominican American student who attended university in New Jersey, spent her most formative years in the Dominican Republic and frequently visits her dad, who now lives in Puerto Rico. Brilianny's narrative provides a nuanced exploration of temporality, particularly through her sense of nostalgia (i.e., a longing for happy memories of the past) and its impact on her perception of time and space. Her study abroad experience in Spain was a pivotal moment that highlighted the differences between these temporal orientations and influenced her understanding of time in significant ways. Brilianny describes the U.S. as a “rushing environment” characterized by a relentless pace and a culture of constant movement and productivity. This contrasts sharply with her experiences in Spain, which she describes as “family-oriented” and reminiscent of the values she associates with her homeland in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. This dichotomy between the hurried pace of life in the U.S. and the more relaxed, familial orientation of Spain resonates with Brilianny's nostalgic longing for the slower, more connected pace of life she associates with her past. Feelings of nostalgia are often triggered by being disconnected from one's homeland in space and time (Smeekes and Jetten, 2019). In Brilianny's case, nostalgia was triggered by feelings of connection between her study abroad host country and her homeland. Studying abroad made me remember that we don't need to be in a rush all the time. It is ok to go to the park with family members, your loved ones, or whatever. There's always time. You can always make time to enjoy life…After study abroad, I stopped being in a rush.
Similarly, Nhung's temporal awakening during her study abroad experience in the Netherlands highlights the profound impact of time and social interactions on her sense of belonging and nostalgia. As a Vietnamese immigrant studying abroad in the Netherlands as a U.S. community college student, she gently reflects on her time abroad,
I love it there because I feel like I belong there…because it's like my Vietnam country. In the Netherlands, people are so friendly. They are outside together, hang out, and help each other. It's not like here [in the Midwest]. People just know themselves. After work, they go home, close the door, and don’t talk to anyone else. But in Vietnam, I would go to the neighbor's house to talk to others. Drink coffee together. Sometimes, if they have dinner, they say, hey, come eat with us! They don't here. If they don't know each other, they don't even look at you or smile at you.
Nhung started laughing, “I miss Vietnam. I miss my country.” Feelings of social exclusion in space and time led to Nhung's complex sense of nostalgia between the study abroad host country in the Netherlands, the host society in the U.S., and her homeland of Vietnam. Her observation about the differences between the social norms in the Netherlands and the U.S. further illustrates the impact of temporality on her experience. In the U.S., she describes a more individualized, isolated lifestyle where social interactions are limited and often confined to work and home environments. In contrast, her recollections of Vietnam involve a more integrated and communal approach to social life, where people routinely engage with neighbors and share meals together. This dichotomy between her experiences abroad and in the U.S. highlights how temporal and spatial dynamics shape her understanding of community and belonging. Nhung's laughter and expression of missing Vietnam encapsulate the emotional complexity of her nostalgia. Her longing for the social connectedness and warmth of Vietnam, juxtaposed with the contrasting experiences in the Netherlands and the U.S., reveals how temporal and spatial factors intersect with personal identity and cultural expectations. Her experience suggests that feelings of social exclusion and nostalgia are deeply intertwined with one's temporal orientation and cultural context.
Discussion
Based on participants’ study abroad, experiences, it is evident that they experienced temporal awakenings that empowered them to reappropriate time destined and assigned based on participant age, nationality, sexuality, production and work, and immigration. By disrupting these notions of time, participants call into question the neoliberal logic that has shaped and continues to shape their lived experiences. In a sense, students are reappropriating their time, realizing that they can allocate it to processes of social reproduction (i.e., self-care, family, imagining new ways of being, new paths to take, and developing new energies that they like to embrace and cultivate). In this regard, study abroad for these students is experienced differently than depicted in dominant study abroad literature (Isabelli-Garcia et al., 2018; Stone and Petrick, 2013; Twombly et al., 2012; Vande Berg, 2007).
Studying abroad changes notions of temporality and space in ways that are profound for participants and gives them insights into the limitations of life in the United States. Through study abroad, participants experienced temporal awakenings shaped by social relations oftentimes embedded in hegemonic understandings of age, nationality, sexuality, class, and immigration. While I do not discard the possibility that the dynamics that I have analyzed henceforth could inform understandings of the experience of dominant groups in study abroad, it is crucial to recognize that the spatiotemporally infused experiences of marginalized participants can differ markedly from those of white, middle-class students who are more frequently represented in existing scholarship. Much of the current literature on study abroad focuses on universally performing aspects of the experience (e.g., expanding their worldview, developing intercultural competence, and employment gains, Acevedo, 2023b). These narratives, however, often reflect deracialized and middle-class perspectives that may not fully capture the unique ways in which ethnoracially minoritized students engage with and learn from their study abroad experiences.
For first-generation, low-income, ethnoracially minoritized students, study abroad can serve as a unique site for challenging and reimagining the temporalities imposed by dominant societal norms. While expanding one's worldview or developing intercultural competence are certainly valuable outcomes, the process through which ethnoracially minoritized students achieve these is often shaped by their marginalized identities. Their experiences abroad may involve navigating not only cultural differences but also challenges stemming from their lived experiences at the intersection of marginalizing social structures. This can lead to different kinds of temporal awakenings, ones that are informed by the need to reconcile their experiences abroad with the systemic inequalities they face both at home and in the host country.
The findings of this study can be put in productive dialogue with existing scholarship by using the often deracialized and universally performing aspects of study abroad as touchstones for analysis. By contrasting the experiences of marginalized students with these dominant narratives, this study highlights how these students “do” and “learn from” study abroad differently. They may engage with study abroad not just as a means of personal and professional development but also as a site for resistance against and redefinition of the temporalities imposed by hegemonic structures.
Further, I do not seek to generalize across all social groups underrepresented in study abroad but instead, give voice to the too-often neglected experiences of this population. By foregrounding the counternarratives of marginalized students, this study provides a critical point of departure for further analysis of temporal awakenings in study abroad. It challenges the field to reconsider the assumed universality of study abroad outcomes and to recognize the diverse and contextually grounded ways in which different student populations experience and make meaning of their spatiotemporality abroad.
Vickie, Long, Eros, Brilianny, and Nhung confronted hegemonic notions of time and space by reappropriating and reclaiming time destined and assigned based on participant age, nationality, sexuality, production and work, and immigration status. Through temporal awakenings, participants experienced a shift in their relationship with time and space that was not otherwise realized. Additionally, temporal awakenings occurred once they returned to life in the U.S. and, by extension, their places within social hierarchies.
The analysis supports that studying abroad can be a subversive experience as participants disrupt the normative design of study abroad by reclaiming time delineated under neoliberal logic to create value and economic surplus. This disruption is significant because neoliberal logics of time are not unique to the U.S. While the U.S. context provides a specific backdrop for understanding how these logics shape the lives of ethnoracially minoritized students, similar pressures are increasingly present in many global contexts. Neoliberalism's influence on time is evident in the way educational systems and labor markets around the world emphasize efficiency, rapid progression, and the accumulation of marketable skills and experiences.
In the context of study abroad, disruption to these arrangements is not marketable as a benefit for study abroad. Whereby expanding your worldview or increasing your cultural competencies may happen as a result of studying abroad, participants in this study underscore how reappropriating time and reimagining what can come out of these experiences can be profound and life-changing. In the context of this study, temporal awakenings represent a phenomenon that challenges power structures and serves as a catalyst for change-directing participants toward alternative ideas, values, and ways of thinking. To be clear, I do not suggest that temporal awakenings are limited to studying abroad, nor do I argue that all experiences of temporal awakenings are universally positive. Marginalization within host countries can negatively shape how space and time are experienced in country. These experiences do not only result from class-based marginalization but also as the result of ethnoracial marginalization of study abroad participants within their home countries. Rather, the understanding of temporal awakenings stems from the narratives of participants in this study. Their experiences with study abroad did yield this benefit. Temporal awakenings can be a direct result of disruption to routines, a different setting, or a different country. It is possible that it was not until study abroad that participants paused to reflect upon the pace of life, the time constraints they may have endured, or the ways they embody time and space.
In this sense, study abroad can serve as a powerful counterpoint to the neoliberal logic of time, offering a space where students might resist or subvert these pressures, albeit temporarily. However, this resistance is not guaranteed, nor is it uniform. The extent to which these temporal awakenings occur and the form they take may vary depending on the interplay of global neoliberal logic with local cultural, social, and economic contexts in the host country. Thus, the findings of this study not only highlight the transformative potential of study abroad but also call for a more nuanced understanding of how time is experienced and negotiated across different global contexts under neoliberalism's pervasive influence.
Conclusion
Though previous research on study abroad has attended to the temporal dimensions of study abroad, this study underscores the value of theorizing about the temporal dynamics of first-generation, low-income, ethnoracially minoritized experiences in study abroad. In particular, I examine these temporal dynamics as they interact with age, nationality, sexuality, production and work, and immigration. Intersectional analyses of study abroad experiences are rare, particularly with a focus on temporal dynamics, despite the ways that the interaction between social group and temporal dynamics shape participants’ experiences.
The compressed time frame of a three-week program indeed intensifies the temporal disruptions and reflections experienced by participants. This condensed period necessitates a rapid adaptation to new environments and routines, possibly amplifying the awareness of temporal and spatial differences. The design of such short-term programs emerged through the spread of neoliberalism (Doerr, 2022) and is often influenced by economic and institutional constraints. This reflects broader capitalist structures that prioritize efficiency and productivity. This capitalist framing can shape participants’ experiences and perceptions as they navigate the balance between educational enrichment and the pressures of time management within a limited period. The intersection of temporality, program design, and capitalist influences is critical for further exploration. Understanding how these factors interplay can provide deeper insights into the diverse experiences and outcomes of study abroad participants.
Future study abroad scholarship could examine social processes of pushing back against time regimes through the perspective of subversion and disruption. Participant counternarratives suggest a line of inquiry into the significance of temporal awakenings on participants as they navigate their experience during and after study abroad. A promising avenue for future research is to investigate pedagogical strategies that effectively facilitate the disruption and awakening of alternate senses of temporality in study abroad programs (i.e., critical reflection coursework, journaling, and other debriefing activities that facilitate these temporal reflections). The focus on beneficial outcomes in the narratives was a result of the specific contexts and reflections of the participants in this study. It is indeed possible, and perhaps likely, that other participants in different contexts might experience temporal awakenings that are challenging, disorienting, or even negative. A nuanced understanding of these temporal awakenings and their diverse impacts will be crucial for further research. This will allow for a more comprehensive discourse around the benefits and challenges of study abroad, acknowledging both the positive transformations and the potential difficulties participants encounter.
This study can inform scholars and practitioners in study abroad to consider the ways immigration experiences interact with time and space abroad. Further, it is important to consider the effects that immigration experiences have on participants once they return to the U.S. in their awareness or confirmation of certain knowledge about its sociopolitical conditions. In doing so, practitioners in the field can help facilitate the multifaceted emotions that participants navigate at the intersection of time, space, and nationality during and after their study abroad experience.
Considerations at the macro-level call on scholars and practitioners in the field to consider mobility as intergenerational, gendered, classed, and raced. Furthermore, I argue that those in the field of education should refrain from universalist and essentialist assumptions about the circumstances and experiences of study abroad participants and instead seek to recognize how social group differences shape the varying effects of study abroad on the circumstances and social relations in which students’ lives unfold. Study abroad experiences are not inscribed onto a blank slate, and students cannot be presumed to approach the question of study abroad under the same circumstances.
Footnotes
Acknowledgment
The author would like to express her deepest gratitude to the participants who shared their stories. Special thanks to Fernando Tormos Aponte, Denisa Gándara, and Roozbeh Shirazi for their invaluable feedback, editing, and guidance toward publication. The author also offers her a special recognition to the reviewers who gave such thoughtful and thorough feedback. This manuscript has improved significantly because of the time they invested in it.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
