Domestic Study Abroad Offers Advantages Without the High Cost: Leveraging Diversity in the U.S.

ABSTRACT

While the benefits of short-term study abroad programs are well documented, especially with respect to enhancing cross-cultural competency in the participants, fewer than one percent of college students in the U.S. benefit from this experience. The principal barriers to studying abroad are actual and opportunity costs and its perceived worth. An alternative model is presented here in which the culturally-diverse, internationally-oriented megacities of North America – New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Houston, among others – can serve as domestic alternatives where a curated set of experiences and learning opportunities can provide educational outcomes akin to those obtained through traditional study abroad programs, at a substantially lower cost to a larger and more diverse student body. A case study, that is easily replicable, is showcased. Limitations of this pedagogical alternative and guidelines for instructors are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Study abroad
• domestic travel
• cross cultural competency
• global education
• ethnic diversity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hope Torkornoo

Hope Torkornoo is Professor of Marketing & International Business at Kennesaw State University, Georgia. He holds a PhD in international Business from Georgia State University. His research interests include foreign direct investment strategy, global strategy, and internationalization of business education.

Turgut Guvenli

Turgut Guvenli, Ph.D. in International Business from Georgia State University, is a Professor of International Business at the Minnesota State University, Mankato. His research interests are in international management, cross-cultural management, social and ethical issues in International Business, among others.

Rajib Sanyal

Rajib Sanyal is interim dean, school of business, University of Washington-Bothell. He earned his PhD in Business Administration from Georgia State University. His research has appeared in the Journal of International Business Ethics, Journal of Business Ethics, Entrepreneurship Journal, and International Business Review, among many other publications. He is the author of a textbook, International Management, published by Prentice-Hall.