The role of core self-evaluation, ethnocentrism, and cultural intelligence in study abroad success

The increases in globalization and growth of multi-national corporations have spawned attention to the role of international experiences in management education. We develop and test a framework to understand individual and motivational factors that may contribute to subjective indicators of study abroad program success. Specifically, we propose motivational cultural intelligence mediates the relationship of both core selfevaluation and ethnocentrism to successful study-abroad experiences. Data were collected from 183 college-level business students who had recently completed study abroad experiences. Mediation analysis results showed motivational cultural intelligence partially mediated the relationship between core-self-evaluation, and ethnocentrism, and subjective success of study abroad experiences (enjoyment, personal growth, general success). Implications for improving study abroad experiences are discussed. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Globalization brings with it an increase in demand for globally-minded leaders. Universities have responded to this demand by expanding international experiences such as study abroad programs. The operating assumption of such programs is international exposure will pay dividends to students and their future potential employers by broadening their perspectives and cultural competencies (Gabrielsson & Kirpalani, 2004). In the U.S., students have responded in record numbers as participation in study abroad experiences has seen double-digit annual increases since 1996 (Landis, Bennett & Bennett, 2004). For instance, by 1999 about 130,000 students participated in study abroad programs compared to just 62,000 a decade earlier. This is particularly noteworthy for business students, who represented about 21% of all study abroad students in 2008. Participation in study abroad programs grew 10% worldwide, from 2006 to 2008, suggesting an international consensus that study abroad experiences are a valuable component of higher education. With such an uptick in participation and availability of study abroad programs, it is imperative to examine factors that predict successful global educational experiences. In this study, we investigated subjective indicators of success, which we define here as students' perceptions of personal growth, enjoyment and general success in their study abroad programs. To understand how tomore effectivelymeet the goals of study abroad programs, researchers have examined topics such as recruitment, duration and program support systems surrounding these programs. To our knowledge, however, the role of individual differences and motivational factors in participants' subjective success in study abroad experiences has received * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J.E. Barbuto), [email protected] (G. Beenen), [email protected] (H. Tran).