“We Just Don’t Have the Possibility Yet”: U.S. Latina/o Narratives on Study Abroad

Authors

Kevin R. McClure, University of Maryland—College Park
Katalin Szelényi, University of Massachusetts—Boston
Elizabeth Niehaus, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Aeriel A. Anderson, Georgetown University
Jeffrey Reed, United States Naval Academy

Date of this Version

2010

Citation

JSARP 2010, 47(3)

Comments

U.S. Government Work

Abstract

Whether indirectly from governmental and non-governmental organizations or directly from higher education institutions, students receive messages that they should study abroad. Studying in a foreign country is considered essential if students are to be marketable to future employers and prepared to lead the U.S. into a new era. Despite the presence of such messages, the understanding of what it means to be absent from the undergraduate student population willing and able to study in a foreign country is severely limited. Importantly, what are the perceptions and experiences of students who repeatedly hear the value of study abroad and who, at the same time, are not willing and/or able to participate? The purpose of this critical qualitative study was to seek answers to this question by exploring the perceptions and experiences of a population that continues to experience low rates of study abroad participation: Latina/o undergraduate students.