International competence: Professional intentions of college seniors.

This study tested a definition of international competence as a construct and estimated the extent to which college experience predicts variance in student intentions toward international competence. It did so by answering the research question: What predicts student intentions to apply international competence in their professional lives ten years after graduation? Lambert (1994) conceptualized five components of global competence: (1) world knowledge, (2) foreign language proficiency, (3) empathy for other cultural viewpoints, (4) approval of foreign people and cultures, and (5) ability to practice one's profession in an international setting. This definition was used to create a profile of two fictional characters who demonstrated international competence. The profile was used successively as a stimulus in student interviews, survey of an expert panel, a pilot study, and survey design. The survey elicited student intentions to apply international competence in their professional lives ten years after graduation. Personal demographics and international learning experiences were considered as possible predictors of intention, along with psychosocial factors of attitude, social norm, and perceived behavioral control. In addition, a qualitative component asked students: How can American colleges and universities prepare students for an increasingly global world? The survey was administered to a random sample of American college senior in business, engineering, and arts and sciences at one research university (n = 449). Using factor analysis, an index of intention toward international competence ($\alpha$ =.86) was created. The index was then used as the outcome measure in a series of multiple regression analyses. Intention was directly predicted by the college curriculum and by psychosocial factors of perceived Opportunity, Self-Efficacy, Social Influence, and Liberal Values. In addition, gender (female), enrollment in the School of Engineering, the curriculum, co-curriculum, and travel abroad during college predicted intention indirectly, operating through the psychosocial factors. Contrary to expectation, no significant effects on intention were found for race/ethnicity, parental education, or childhood experience. The model of intentions toward international competence is presented for further testing in multi-institutional settings using causal methods. The author calls for cross-disciplinary research on internationalization processes and for administrative leadership to raise mean scores for international competence.Ph.D.EducationHigher educationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/129980/2/9711957.pd