Abstract
Internationalization has become a goal of most universities in the world and includes increased student mobility across borders. Goals behind greater student mobility are mixed, but whatever the goals are, all institutions should strive to try to maximize the net benefits for students. An economics program between Dalhousie University in Canada and Shandong University of Finance and Economics in China is used to examine how net benefits can be maximized. Amongst the conclusions reached by the paper, it is students who participate in exchange or study abroad programs that will experience an increase in intercultural competence, which is a major benefit of the experience. A second significant conclusion is that language is a crucial determinant of success when students must adopt a foreign language when they study abroad. The paper also shows that faculty engagement is crucial to success. Strictly top-down programs that originate and/or reside in the central administration are less likely to have, and less likely to be successful without faculty engagement. The paper concludes that the institutions must have a commitment to the program that goes beyond a simple short term profit maximization motive but ultimately, the success of any program depends on the students themselves. Other factors can defeat a given program, but only the students can ultimately make a program successful.
Highlights
Around the world, university students are engaging in study abroad programs of various kinds
This paper uses a program between Dalhousie University (Dal) in Canada and Shandong University of Finance and Economics (SDUFE) in China as a case study for an analysis of how net benefits can be maximized or at least how costs and net benefits can be identified
In spite of the fact that this may create some problems in the classroom for students whose first language is not English, it is important to recognize that this diversity at the faculty level is an important factor in explaining the tolerance and level of acceptance of diversity at the student level, which is at the heart of the success of a program such as the Dal-SDUFE Program in Economics12
Summary
Around the world, university students are engaging in study abroad programs of various kinds. It is not sufficient to put people from different cultures in the same classroom to realize the potential benefits of such a step It has to be done in a way that allows the students in question, both domestic students and foreign, to accept each other’s presence but to take advantage of the greater diversity to enhance their own experience as students. This paper uses a program between Dalhousie University (Dal) in Canada and Shandong University of Finance and Economics (SDUFE) in China as a case study for an analysis of how net benefits can be maximized or at least how costs and net benefits can be identified In using this example, the reader is cautioned to be careful not to over-generalize from this one case. Some general conclusions are drawn, with the important qualification that care must be taken in drawing general conclusions from a single program
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