Going abroad or staying home? Students’ motivation for, and educational aspects of, studying abroad programs

Several studies have reported high level of satisfaction and significant cognitive growth by university students taking part in studying abroad programs (e.g. Wier-Jenssen, 2003, Frish, 1990), as well as a greater appreciation of cultural differences (Haloburdo & Thompson, 1998). Given that only a minority of students participates in such programs, it is important to assess that the results are not (wholly) attributable to some sort of self-filtering mechanism such that students that are more cognitively mature and more sensitive to cultural diversity are more keen to apply for such programs. We will present the results of a study in which we constructed two questionnaires, one for students who took part in a study abroad program and one for students who did not study abroad. The results show interesting differences but also similarities between the two groups of students, highlighting the role of both personal and educative factors.