Realizing the Potential of International Education in Leadership Learning

This chapter explores how study abroad and the presence of international students contributes to students’ leadership development, key challenges preventing that potential from being realized, and offers suggestions for improving access to and implementing leadership-focused study abroad and international student programs. International student mobility offers great potential to provide the cross-cultural engagement opportunities necessary to develop the skills and dispositions to effectively engage in international leadership. However, when it comes to student mobility in and out of the United States (i.e., study abroad and international students), this potential is often unrealized due to issues of access and implementation. This chapter explores how study abroad and the presence of international students contributes to students’ leadership development, key challenges preventing that potential from being realized, and offers suggestions for improving access to and implementing leadership-focused study abroad and international student programs. International student mobility is a broad term that encompasses the movement of students across national borders for academic study. Within the United States, the term international students typically refers to inbound student mobility, typically for an entire academic degree. The term study abroad, on the other hand, typically refers to outbound mobility, or students who are enrolled in degree programs within the United States, who take courses and earn credits associated with travel to a different country (see the Institute for International Education [IIE] 2016 Open Doors report for an example of this terminology)