Internationalization of higher education is usually accompanied by rhetorical flourishes that are always going to be difficult to live up to. The research reported here is based on surveys and focus group interviews with students at our home university that asks what students expect to learn and really learn from the university study abroad program. In emphasizing what the students surveyed and interviewed for this study reported learning, or thought they might learn, we are able to offer suggestions that can narrow the breach between the rhetoric and the practice of international education and suggest ways of ensuring that students gain as much as possible from their experiences while studying abroad.
AsaokaT.YanoJ. (2009). The contribution of “Study Abroad” programs to Japanese internationalization. Journal of Studies in International Education, 13, 174-188.
2.
BiksonT.TrevertonG.MoiniJ.LindstromG. (2003). New challenges for international leadership: Lessons from organizations with global missions. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
3.
BroomhallS.PitmanT.McEwanJ. (2011). A classroom like no other: Learning and teaching in Australian educational tourism. Perth, Australia: Uniprint.
4.
CarlsonJ.WidmanK. (1988). The effects of study abroad during college on attitudes toward other cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 12(1), 1-17.
DalyA.BarkerM. (2005). Australian and New Zealand university students’ participation in international exchange programs. Journal of Studies in International Education, 9(1), 26-41.
7.
de WitH. (2002). Internationalisation of higher education in the United States of America and Europe. New York, NY: Greenwood.
8.
DwyerM.PetersC. (2004). The benefits of study abroad. Transitions Abroad, 27(5), 56-57.
9.
FeinbergB. (2002, May3). What students don’t learn abroad. Chronicle of Higher Education, 48(34), B20.
10.
FleetwoodS. (n.d.). A note on critical realism in organisation and management studies. Work and Society Research Network. Retrieved from www.workandsociety.com/downloads/theo2.pdf
11.
ForseyM. (2008). Ethnographic interviewing: From conversation to published text. In WalfordG. (Ed.), How to do educational ethnography? (pp. 57-75). London, UK: Tufnell Press.
12.
ForseyM.DavisJ. (2008, December). Experiential learning or Aventure Tourism? Teaching Experiential Short Courses in Australian Studies to Study Abroad Students. Paper presented at Biennial Conference of The International Australian Studies Association, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane.
13.
GmelchG. (1997). Crossing cultures: Student travel and personal development. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 21, 475-490.
14.
HanselB.GroveN. (1986). International student exchange programs—Are the educational benefits real?NASSP Bulletin, 70, 84.
15.
IngrahamE. C.PetersonD. L. (2004). Assessing the impact of study abroad on student learning at Michigan State University. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 10, 83-100.
16.
KvaleS.BrinkmannS. (2009). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
17.
MontgomeryC. (2009). A decade of internationalisation: Has it influenced students’ views of cross-cultural group work at university?Journal of Studies in International Education, 13, 256-270.
18.
NorrisE. M.GillespieJ. (2005). Study abroad: Stepping stone to a successful international career. NACE Journal, LXV(3), 30-36.
19.
NorrisE. M.GillespieJ. (2009). How study abroad shapes global careers: Evidence from the United States. Journal of Studies in International Education, 13, 382-397.
PeacockN.HarrisonN. (2009). “It’s so much easier to go with what’s easy”: “Mindfulness” and the discourse between home and international students in the United Kingdom. Journal of Studies in International Education, 13, 487-508.
22.
PitmanT.BroomhallS. (2009). Australian universities, generic skills and lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 28, 439-458.
UWA Institutional Research Unit. (2005, September). Student perceptions of the UWA Student Exchange programme.
27.
Vande BergM. (2007). Intervening in the learning of U.S. students abroad. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11, 392-399.
28.
VincentiV. B. (2001). Exploration of the relationship between international experiences and the interdisciplinary work of university faculty. Journal of Studies in International Education, 5(1), 42-63.
29.
WilliamsR. (1985). Keywords: A vocabulary of culture and society. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
30.
WoolfM. (2007). Impossible things before breakfast: Myths in education abroad. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11, 496-509.
