The host members' perspectives on an international partnership of a short-term study abroad program in Hong Kong.

Date
2014-12-24
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Abstract
As universities and colleges send thousands of students to study abroad each year, there are many issues and concerns as well as benefits and challenges for study abroad students and sending institutions that have been identified in current empirical studies and scholarly literature. However, little research has been done to examine international partnerships and the impacts of study abroad programs from host members’ perspectives. Designed as a qualitative research study, a case study methodology was utilized to gather in-depth information in order to gain insights into host members’ cultural perceptions and experiences interacting with study abroad students in an established international partnership between a host organization in Hong Kong and a sending institution in Canada. Guided by two overarching research questions, detailed descriptive data were collected from 16 semi-structured one-on-one interviews and three subsequent focus group meetings with a total of 23 participants at the host organization. Findings from this study highlight the complexity in international partnership development that requires each partner to understand and accept the cultural differences from their own cultural lenses. Also, this study reveals that host members' cultural perceptions have the potential to influence their decision-making and their experiences when working with others who are from a different cultural context. The implications of this study's findings not only indicate the important social, cultural and organizational factors that have influenced different stages of a partnership development, but also contribute to our understanding of how host members’ perceptions of their own and other cultural similarities and differences contribute to an increased cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity at the host organization when hosting the study abroad students.
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Keywords
Education--Administration, Education--Community College, Education--Early Childhood
Citation
Gorica, Y. (2014). The host members' perspectives on an international partnership of a short-term study abroad program in Hong Kong. (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28165