The Impact of Study Abroad on the Global Engagement of University Graduates

Abstract

Through a survey of 1,283 alumni of a large U.S. public university who graduated between 1980 and 2010, this study compares the global engagement of university graduates who did and didn’t study abroad as undergraduates. Global engagement was measured through self-reported behaviours associated with six domains: civic engagement, knowledge production, philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, voluntary simplicity and internationally-oriented leisure activities. Results show that alumni who participated in study abroad programs as undergraduates reported higher levels of global engagement in most domains (civic engagement, philanthropy, voluntary simplicity, and internationally-oriented leisure activities), but not in all (knowledge production, social entrepreneurship).