Not Your Mother’s (or Your Father’s) Study Abroad

Kerry Geffert
Product Evangelist, Terra Dotta

Cue the violins. Many of us who studied abroad in the last century may have romanticized visions of study abroad. Sitting in a café on the Champs Élysées, lingering over a Café Express watching the world go by. Or being a guest at a Japanese Tea Ceremony. Or enjoying an evening of tango in Buenos Aires. In other words, soaking up the culture.

It was an infographic from 2014/15 Open Doors that started me thinking. The vision of today’s study abroad student is likely not the same as mine.

The infographic in question was one on the “Top Five Major Fields of Study of U.S. Study Abroad Students.” At the top, 24% were in the STEM fields, 20% were Business majors, 17% Social Sciences, and the last two: 8% Foreign Language & International Studies, and 7% Fine & Applied Arts. However, 10 years earlier, the order was different: 22.6% in Social Sciences, 17.5% Business and 16.3% STEM. The Fine & Applied Arts remained basically unchanged at 7.6%. Foreign Languages alone (the classification changed in 2013/14 to include International Studies) accounted for 7.5%. The Humanities totaled 13.3%, but dropped significantly to 3.8% in 2014/15 primarily due to reclassifications. Just before the change, the Humanities had dropped to 10.4% in 2012/13. Looking back to Open Doors 1996/97, the number of students from the Social Sciences and Humanities remained essentially unchanged at 35% while Business majors accounted for 14% and STEM majors only 10%.

Combine the last 10-year changes in fields of study representation along with a 50% growth in total students studying abroad, and we have a prescription for significant changes in views of study abroad. Aside from those categories already tracked through the Open Doors reports, there are undoubtedly significant changes to the courses undertaken by today’s study abroad student. As students focus more on major- and career-related courses and experiences such as internships (typically in English), has there been a decline in course enrollments in host languages or humanities courses that would help students become more immersed in their host cultures?

Data in this area are difficult to find. Often, and understandably so, statistics focus on majors rather than course enrollments by any undergraduate student. In August 2013, the “AAC&U News,” a newsletter of the Association of American Colleges & Universities, noted that while the number of humanities majors is declining, “the majority of students take coursework in these disciplines.” However, the newsletter goes on to note that freshman composition is the most common course taken, with courses in U.S. history, U.S. government and literature also being common. Aside from the potential literature course, most of these courses would not be ones taken by study abroad students.

Foreign language enrollment data on study abroad are equally elusive. The Modern Language Association (MLA) provides a robust searchable database of enrollments dating back to 1958; however, while illustrative of trends, the database cannot be considered reflective of study abroad language enrollments.

One interesting piece of MLA data, when compared to Open Doors data is this: in 2004/05 15,449 study abroad students were identified as foreign language majors, greater than the 14,062 Bachelor’s degrees granted the next year (2005/06) for first majors in the 15 most commonly taught languages according to the MLA (the difference, in part, may be attributable to study abroad students who were not juniors, or who attended two-year institutions). Then in 2011/12, 15,017 majors were reported in Open Doors (a decrease from 2004/05), whereas 14,491 Bachelor’s degrees were awarded in 2012/13, per the MLA., a slight increase. Further, whereas Open Doors shows a continued decrease during the same period (2004/05 – 2012/13) in both the percentage and real number of foreign language majors, the number of Bachelor’s degrees awarded peaked in 2008/09 at 15,115 then dropped off to 14,491. So, while the number of foreign language majors on study abroad decreased by 3%, the number of Bachelor’s degrees actually increased by 3%. Could this mean that there is a slight increase in the number of students graduating with foreign language majors who have not studied abroad?

To muddy the waters even further regarding foreign language enrollments, studies of college and college-bound students provide mixed results. A 1991 study from CIEE of study abroad students from four institutions (therefore, not a broadly representative study) shared this among its findings:

“Because students who choose to study abroad tend to be internationally concerned, the expansion of study abroad participation calls for identifying and/or producing more such students. In this regard the SAEP [Study Abroad Evaluation Project] study abroad students shared the following characteristics:….Prior foreign language study….” (“Study Abroad: The Experience of American Undergraduates in Western Europe and the United States”, pp. 50-51)

Ten years later, the 2001 American Council on Education report “Public Experience, Attitudes, and Knowledge: A Report on Two National Surveys About International Education” presented a rosy picture for foreign language enrollments. Reflecting on data from a survey of 1,006 Americans 18 and older Americans, the report found, “Eighty-six percent strongly or somewhat agree that knowing a foreign language would improve their chances for career success.” (p. 20)

Additionally, the same report found the following based on a “telephone sample of 500 four-year-college-bound high school seniors” (p.1):

“Increasing their foreign language skills also was one of the primary reasons students gave for wanting to participate in a study abroad experience…..While 98 percent have had some language training in secondary school, 57 percent reported that they planned to study a foreign language in college. Seventy-eight percent of students reported that becoming proficient in a second language was something in which they were very or somewhat interested.” (p. 20)

Much like the discrepancy between the large percentage of high school graduates who express interest in studying abroad and the percentage who do, it would appear that the same drop-off in participation occurs when considering foreign language study on a study abroad program – based on the declining participation numbers of foreign language majors. Trends such as shorter study abroad programs generally do not lend themselves to effective language acquisition. As Barbara Burns noted in her chapter in the 2001 book Changing Perspectives on International Education, “Language acquisition is far less when study abroad is only a semester rather than a full academic year or more.” (p. 183) That acquisition is likely even less when the program is three weeks or shorter. The relative minimization of foreign language learning can only be exacerbated by faculty-led programs typically taught solely in English and programs offered primarily in English by host institutions in countries where English is not the primary language of instruction.

But why this preoccupation with the decline in foreign language majors in study abroad? What role might it play in differing generational views of study abroad? Foreign languages on study abroad is not the current “hot” trend. Education abroad instead has been focusing on increasing the participation numbers of STEM and business students, as well as those in pre-professional programs such as nursing and education. And these efforts are showing success as demonstrated by the data in the most recent Open Doors report: 24% of U.S. study abroad students in 2014/15 were STEM majors, and 20% were Business majors, the two largest groups.

Not to diminish the need for involvement of traditionally underrepresented majors in study abroad, but emphasis on maintaining participation by humanities students, and foreign language students in particular, also must remain a priority. Two recent news items bear witness to this issue.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Commission on Language Learning recently released its final report, a report created at the behest of several Congressional representatives in response to the Academy’s 2013 report on the humanities and social sciences. “America’s Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century” makes the case that funding must be maintained for language study, and creative partnerships must occur at both the K-12 and postsecondary levels. The Commission recommends the promotion of “opportunities for [undergraduate] students to travel, experience other cultures, and immerse themselves in languages as they are used in everyday interactions and across all segments of society.” (p. 27) The report echoes the Academy’s 2013 report and, in effect, Burns in noting, “While foreign language study is a crucial step toward a more productive, reciprocal engagement with other cultures and governments, language study alone cannot provide the cultural and historical context in which such exchanges take place.” (p. 27)

The other report comes from the New American Economy, a group of over 500 “mayors and business leaders who support sensible immigration reforms that will help create jobs for Americans today.” Among the key findings in “Not Lost in Translation; The Growing Importance of Foreign Language Skills in the U.S. Job Market” are that the demand for bilingual workers was risen from 240,000 jobs in 2010 to approximately 630,000 jobs in 2015, and that the need occurs at both the low and higher-ends of the skill spectrum. (p. 2) Clearly, the opportunity to enhance one’s language skills through education abroad will similarly enhance one’s future job prospects.

A generation ago, study abroad seemed to be a period devoted to personal growth through study in the arts, culture and language. It was an opportunity that served the liberal arts student well. Today’s study abroad cohort is a broader amalgamation of students, representing the whole spectrum of majors, who have become more focused on major credits and post-graduation employment. Personal growth is still a desired outcome of education abroad; however, that enrichment now must be shared with narrower coursework and opportunities for career development and enhancement. The future of education abroad will be in achieving a balance that respects both and neglects neither.