How a one semester study abroad experience affects an undergraduate college student's identity development

Abstract

Obtaining a global perspective and world-mindedness is an important component to an undergraduate education in today's complex world. While the focus of a college education is to improve a student's breadth of knowledge, so to, is assisting students in their overall development as citizens of the world. Identity development is a key component to undergraduate education in this respect. In order to determine if study abroad is a useful tool in promoting higher levels of identity development in college students, a qualitative study was conducted with 8 undergraduates at Montana State University, Bozeman. Interviews conducted with the participants in this study indicate that study abroad did have a positive affect on the students' identity development.