Internationalization: A Phenomenological Analysis of the Experiences of Faculty Who Have Led a Short-Term Educational Abroad Program

Over the years, internationalization efforts in higher education institutions have been driven predominantly by the growing demands of the globalized world. Short-term education abroad programs have emerged as a popular strategy for attaining internationalization. Faculty at many institutions are instrumental to this process as they often are the leaders of these education abroad experiences. While considerable research exists on student experiences in education abroad, few studies have focused on the experiences of other members of these programs—faculty (Goode, 2008; Loebick, 2017; Savishinsky, 2012). The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to understand the lived experiences of faculty who have led a short-term education abroad program. Within this study, “short-term” is used to indicate programs of one to eight weeks in duration as described by the Forum on Education Abroad (2019). Guided by a phenomenological framework, I sought to further the understanding of faculty’s experiences leading short-tern education abroad program. To better understand this phenomenon and address the research question, data were collected through three semi-structured interviews with each participant, as well as through reflective journal entries. Six themes emerged from the research findings and analysis: Faculty Motivation; Intentionality in Program Design; Responsibility to Students, Home Institution, and Host Community; Deeper Faculty-Student Interaction; Disconnection with Campus Community; and Advice to Colleagues and Administrators