American college students who chose to study abroad: case study narratives

Abstract

This qualitative study attempted to uncover motivations and influences that led ten American undergraduate college students to study abroad. The literature review discussed various types of study abroad programming, acknowledged benefits accrued from a foreign study experience, addressed criticisms of study abroad, and reviewed the few extant studies on motivation to study abroad. Narrative inquiry framed the data collection process, while hermeneutic phenomenology provided the analytic framework. I interviewed respondents and subsequently analyzed the data in order to unearth motivations and influences derived from participants' lived experiences. I then categorized the findings thematically and compared them to existing literature on the benefits of study abroad, motivation to study abroad, and psychological approaches to motivation. A discussion of these comparisons details areas and methods for enhancing outreach and marketing efforts for study abroad programs, and for expanding and/or creating programming that appeals to students. The intent of this study was to assist in augmenting the knowledge of the field, to increase the number of qualitative, narrative inquiry studies relating to motivation and influences to study abroad, and to help increase the number of American students who study abroad.