Live-learn-work: Experiential learning and cultural intelligence in the internship abroad

Abstract

In response to increasing demand for intercultural competency in global work environments, universities in the United States have expanded opportunities for study and internship abroad. However, there is comparatively little research on the program design for internship abroad programs and how it affects intercultural competency. This study presents a new curriculum model for the internship abroad called Live-Learn-Work (LLW) and evaluates its effects on the cultural intelligence (CQ) of undergraduate student participants in three different settings: Seoul, South Korea; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Lima, Peru. The design of LLW is unique in that it integrates a theoretical framework from Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) with a measure of cultural competency, the cultural intelligence scale (CQS), and provides a holistic approach to the internship abroad. Utilizing a pre- and post-test design, this study analyzed the effect of each program on the four subscales of CQ (cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral), and discussed their interrelations. The study concluded that the program design had a statistically significant positive effect on cultural intelligence, but that this effect was uneven across CQ subscales and programs. These results point to the need for further research on the relationships among CQ dimensions.