Engineering Study Abroad

Abstract

Successful engineers must be technically savvy, self-confident as well as culturally competent. Cultural competence is the ability to tolerate ambiguity and empathize with the socio-cultural nuances of different people groups. This calls for a diverse engineering workforce especially in today's increasingly global economy. In the United States, Minorities and Females constitute only 4% and 15% of the engineering workforce respectively. Research shows that women and students of color, dropout due to feelings of not belonging coupled with low self-efficacy. To change the profession's diversity portfolio requires a plethora of high impact approaches. Common among successful retention strategies is the provision of structured opportunities for all students to develop self-directing competencies in both the cognitive and affective learning domains. This chapter demonstrates that the study abroad experience engenders, facilitates and fosters these very aptitudes as well as cultural literacy, and advocates for its inclusion in discussions on increasing under-represented participations in engineering.