Negotiating the challenges of studying abroad

With Study Abroad being encouraged by the Japanese government, we thought it useful to consider what challenges students face in programs and how they overcome difficulties. While study abroad can refer to a wide range of experiences, in this study we focused on students who had just returned from four-month study abroad program. We initiated a simple online survey of 75 students, and then followed that up with semi-structured interviews with a select group. While the quantitative data did not reveal significant findings, the in-depth interviews provided a wealth of information regarding how students overcame the challenges they faced, and led the authors to consider what preparation and negotiation strategies to take in order to prepare students for future study abroad programs