Factors Affecting Business Students’ Willingness to Study Abroad:Evidence from the Caribbean

ABSTRACT

The Caribbean has one of the lowest rates of student participation in study abroad programs. This comparative study aims to contribute to the research on business students’ attitudes toward studying abroad, specifically for students in public institutions in the Caribbean. The research shows that positive perceptions of students toward studying or internships do not necessarily depend on demographic or personal characteristics. A study conducted among business students from main campuses at the University of Puerto Rico (UPRRP) and the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) shows that desire to live abroad, benefits from study/internship abroad, and self-confidence are determinant factors to participate in study/internship programs abroad. Even though each group of participants has its own set of peculiarities, the results are consistent with the findings from other studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Student Mobility
• Study Abroad
• Students Attitudes
• Business Students
• Caribbean
• Internships

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Arleen Hernández-Díaz

Dr. Arleen Hernández-Díaz is a professor of Human Resources Management at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. She received her doctoral degree in Industrial Relations with specialization in Collective Bargaining and Human Resources Management at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. In 2011 she earned a post-doctoral degree in Management and Marketing at Tulane University in New Orleans.  During her twenty seven years career as a full professor at the University of Puerto Rico, she has served in a number of academic management positions, such as Director of the Department of Management, Assistant Dean of Students Affairs, Assistant Dean of Graduate Students, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Coordinator of Programa Enlace and Coordinator of Bank of America Jobs Initiative at UPR. Her research interest and publications are concentrated in the areas of human resources management, part-time employment, labor management relations, entrepreneurship and mobility.

Leticia M. Fernández-Morales

CPA Leticia M. Fernandez is a professor of Accounting at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. She received her master degree in Managerial Accounting at George Washington University. During her thirty-five career as a full professor at the University of Puerto Rico, she has served in a number of academic management positions, such as Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Assistant Dean of Students Affairs and Dean of Academic Affairs.  She is the author of the bookAccounting for Leases. Her research interest and publications are concentrated in the areas of financial accounting, the importance of soft skills for accounting students, and mobility.

José C. Vega-Vilca

Dr. Jose C. Vega-Vilca is a professor of Statistics at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. He received hisdoctoral degree inComputing and Information Sciences and Engineering with specialization in Computational Statistics at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus. In 2011 he earned a post-doctoral degree in Management and Marketing at Tulane University in New Orleans. His research interest and publications are concentrated in business education as well as application of methods of supervised classification in business decision.

Mario Córdova-Claudio

Dr. Mario Córdova-Claudio is a professor of Operations Management, Statistics and Business Law at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. He received his doctoral degree in Operations Research at Rutgers, the State University of NJ. In 2004 he earned a Juris Dr from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. He is also Certified Associate in Project Management. During his career as a professor at the University of Puerto Rico, he has served as Academic Advisor and Academic Senator. His research interest and publications are concentrated in the areas of operations research and management, queuing theory and linear programming applications, and accuracy of expert effort estimates in software projects.