EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF AN ON-CAMPUS CULTURAL TRAINING COURSE COMBINED WITH FACULTY-LED, SHORT-TERM STUDY ABROAD EXPERIENCES ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE
As globalization
continues to increase, the demand for culturally intelligent employees is
central for navigating everyday intercultural business interactions. For
college students preparing to enter the workforce, cultural intelligence is
trained at universities through cultural training courses and study abroad
experiences. Although cultural training courses and study abroad experiences
are recognized as important factors in developing cultural intelligence, their
effects are often assumed. Additionally, research indicates that international
travel alone does not enhance a person’s overall cultural intelligence. This
research examined a university program designed using Bandura’s Social Learning
Theory to increase undergraduate students’ cultural intelligence through an
on-campus cultural training course followed by a study abroad experience. Study
1 compared the effectiveness of a university program consisting of a cultural
training course with a study abroad experience against a comparison control
group. Multi-level modeling analyses suggest that students who participated in
the cultural training course followed by a study abroad experience
significantly increase in motivation, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavior
CQ. Furthermore, interaction analyses examined the relationship between the two
study groups, students’ self-assigned cultural development goals, the quality
of their reflective journal entries, and an examination of any potential
cultural mentor effects. None of these variables was associated with CQ growth.
Study 2 compared two study abroad groups who either spent 3- or 6-weeks abroad
after completing a shared cultural training course. Both groups experienced a
statistically significant increase in all four CQ domains relative to a
comparison group. When comparing the 3- and 6-week study abroad groups, there
were no differences in motivation, cognitive, or behavior CQ; however, in
metacognitive CQ, the 3-week group experienced a statistically significant
increase compared to the 6-week group. No student-level predictors (age, gender identity, ethnicity, year in school,
previous overseas experience, and grade point average) or program-level
predictors (cultural mentor, number of countries visited) had a significant relationship with CQ development. These results
demonstrate that a university intercultural development program that combines a
cultural development training course with an instructor-led study abroad
experience can help students improve their cultural intelligence, regardless of
a student’s background, and that students can experience significant CQ growth
in as little as 3-week abroad.