2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Study abroad (SA) is widely known to have uniquely positive, short- and long-term impacts for undergraduate students, regardless of academic discipline. Broadly speaking, undergraduate students who participate in SA programs demonstrate enhanced global competence, critical thinking, problem solving, and communication proficiencies, as well as a more dynamic perspective of their major and future profession. Some research has shown that SA impacts students’ short- and long-term professional paths and improves employment outcomes.

Although these well documented benefits align with the demands of engineering employers, the recommendations of international engineering federations, and ABET’s mission and requirements, engineering students account for only 5% of SA students nationally, and 1.4% of SA students at the University of South Florida (USF). This gap can be attributed to a combination of institutional perspective and students’ resultant concerns regarding course sequencing and summer internships. Additionally, some engineering professors and advisors perceive SA negatively and may deter students from pursuing SA opportunities.

In this paper we discuss the development, implementation, status, and future directions of a 1-credit sustainability- and intercultural-focused study abroad course designed by Drs. Joanna Burchfield and Jamie Chilton in the college of engineering at USF. The course is open to all engineering majors and levels. Students participate in three classroom meetings focused on intercultural communication (ICC) and cohort-building before traveling abroad over spring break, where they engage with researchers and practitioners during tours, site visits, and lectures. Using a combination of surveys and reflections from four cohorts, we discuss participants’ pre- and post- trip assessments regarding their holistic understanding of sustainability, perceptions of their engineering disciplines, and their global, intercultural, and communication competencies. We assert that short-duration SA is an efficient, effective, and non-disruptive approach to providing engineering students access to the high-impact benefits of SA experiences. Additionally, our preliminary findings align with prior research showing that combined ICC instruction and SA can improve the Intercultural Development Inventory index scores among engineering students, who typically fall into ethnocentric levels of intercultural competence, thus increasing students’ cultural awareness and openness to differences.

Future directions include: post-graduation follow-up among past participants, increased focus on ICC while abroad, and enhancing the participative opportunities for students who may not otherwise be presented with such possibilities for travel experiences.