How Undergraduate Research Can Boost Your Study Abroad Program

… and increase student intercultural competence

… and increase student intercultural competence

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

I’ve been teaching intercultural writing for over a decade, but I have never led a study abroad until this year. I have mostly worked across cultures online. That work helped me realize undergraduate research can enhance this learning in ways I never thought.

In 2020, COVID cancelled the study abroad I’m on now, requiring me to move it “online.” That meant scheduling multiple zooms where students could meet and interact with Polish residents. These Zooms became a space where students could observe culture in action … not just information about culture.

For example, we often have technical writers come visit us via Zoom to talk about their writing practices and experience. As students interact with a group of writers from a company like Motorola, they can see how different employees interact in different ways in the Zoom space and compare that with their own expectations and assumptions … a key component of being culturally competent.

Taking a study abroad mindset into a cross-cultural Zoom helps students see culture being enacted in the Zoom space itself. In my current physical study abroad, I’m taking this a step further.

Doing undergraduate research on intercultural writing and innovation brings a new mindset to study abroad that helps students intentionally and mindfully observe culture.

As my students take part in my first physical study abroad, I am asking them to do their own qualitative research. They will visit several companies and take part in a writing conference, where they will observe and interview the communities and cultures around them.

Here are some of how I see this mindset shift happening.

Students are asking questions about what they see.

What you notice often depends on what you look for … or what you are asking. If a student is asking themselves how culture might change workplace productivity or health communications, they will more likely see organic cultural elements. To understand and appreciate another culture, we must be mindful of how we are seeing it and how our own values may influence our perceptions.

Students need to be open to the idea that they may not know all the answers. It’s okay to ask questions, even if you don’t know the answer. That is what it means to be a researcher.

Students are more likely to compare across situations.

If we visit three corporate settings looking for cultural elements, students see how culture interacts in different contexts. There will be different ways each company handles our visit that says something about organizational and local culture. We will also be able to see how culture is integrated into these companies.

We can explore how culture is used to create value in each organization. As we do our research, we see how the people in the company are interacting with us and with each other.

As a result, students have a greater awareness of the way they perceive their own culture and how they interact with other cultures. Students will notice subtle differences in how they approach the same task in a different context.

Students make fewer assumptions about broader cultural patterns.

The question is no longer about a nation’s culture, but what is happening in the space we are observing. If students are actively looking for specific cultural elements, they are more likely to see how culture is unique to the situation. Students who are studying abroad are more aware of how their own cultural norms may differ from those of the host country. This awareness helps them to become more aware of how their own cultures may affect the way they communicate and behave.

Students can see how culture is negotiated in the physical space. Whether students actually produce new research or even answer their research question is completely irrelevant. The true purpose is to shift their mindset from tourist to observer. The idea is to help them become more observant and to learn about what they see. When they are observing, they can begin to understand the world around them and themselves.

After all isn’t true intercultural competence about being an inquisitive researcher with an open mind. Students who study abroad are better prepared for the world around them. They develop a more global perspective, and they can think outside of the box. That’s how undergraduate research projects can change our study abroad programs.