Studying abroad is no longer just about perfecting the ability to roll your R's in Spain or eat without cutlery in Ethiopia.
While spending a semester or year abroad was once seen merely as an opportunity for personal enrichment, today, studying abroad can play an increasingly important role in life after college, particularly in the job market.
According to an article published in the New York Times this month, "globally fluent graduates are essential to American competitiveness." With transportation technology and the Internet bringing members of communities across the world together, it is becoming more and more important for graduates to immerse themselves in cultures from countries beyond the United States and Europe.
Tufts Director of Programs Abroad Sheila Bayne agreed. She said she has seen an increased awareness of life after graduation in reasons for going abroad. While the semester or year away from Tufts does still give students opportunities for independence and a cultural experience, motivations of being a competitive applicant in the job market is a newer reason that students have cited for going abroad.
"It is becoming more and more evident that the ability to cross cultures is essential to be competitive in the job market," Bayne said. "With telecommunication and the ease of travel making the world even smaller, no matter what job students go on to, communication with people in other countries will likely play a role in students' careers."
Reflecting the increasing importance of study abroad and its ever-expanding nature is the growing number of American students opting to spend time in foreign countries. Within the 6,000 programs sending students to over 100 countries, students are studying abroad at twice the rate they were eight years ago.
Matching and surpassing this trend, 45 percent of Tufts students are choosing to study abroad, as compared to 35 percent two years ago and 6 percent nationally, Bayne said. She attributed this increased interest among Tufts students versus students of other schools as part of the university's philosophy of internationalism and global thinking - a philosophy she said other schools have tried to mimic.
"Lots of schools have jumped on the bandwagon of trying to get students to study abroad," Bayne said.
But, according to Bayne, the nature of Tufts' abroad programs makes its students uniquely qualified when they enter the job market. While many schools are just now creating programs to respond to student demand, she said, their programs are not always as academically rigorous or culturally broad as Tufts'.
"There is a significant difference between programs that last three weeks and those that last a full year," she said.
She said many schools rely on "island programs," in which students take classes from an American university program at a campus in a foreign country. But Bayne said there is very little demand for these programs from Tufts students. Instead, they prefer programs that emphasize immersion through homestays and enrollment in classes at local institutions.
Tufts students interviewed agreed that an increased knowledge of the world outside the United States is becoming more important today.
Sophomore Xavier Malina, who plans to study somewhere in South America next year, said he thinks his time abroad will help him after graduating.
"Especially for anyone majoring in international relations, it's a big plus to be able to communicate as well as possible with someone from another culture. An authentic experience can give you a real insight into negotiations," Malina said.
Senior Radha Patel, who studied in Oxford last year, chose to spend time abroad because a semester outside America is a chance to "broaden your horizons."
Though the Oxford program is different because it does not involve language immersion, Patel still learned about foreign culture.
"Being in Europe is just so different. There's a different pace of life and a different way of learning things," she said.
However, some Tufts students don't see going abroad as critical to life after college.
Junior Amy Rabinowitz is not studying abroad because she doesn't see the abroad experience as necessary for her future plans to go to law school.
"It is very important to be globally aware, but college isn't the time to get that experience. College should be about academics and most of the abroad programs don't maintain the same level of academia as we have at Tufts," Rabinowitz said.
Other Tufts students cite concentration requirements as making studying abroad unfeasible.
Junior and math major Stephen Sherman found it unrealistic to fulfill his course requirements while abroad but doesn't believe this will negatively affect his ability to be globally fluent.
"The world is incredibly small," he said. "The same information that exists here exists in the exact same way somewhere across the globe. So, it doesn't really matter."
