Does studying abroad help academic achievement?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Does studying abroad help academic achievement?

AU - Cardwell, Paul James

N1 - Funding Information: This paper was presented at the ?Legal Education in the Context of Globalization? conference, Doshisha University, Japan, December 2016; ?Brexit and the Northern Law School?, University of Liverpool, June 2017 and the Westminster Higher Education Forum Keynote Seminar, London, March 2018. The author is very grateful to Louise Bishop for invaluable research assistance on the project and for comments by Tamara Hervey, Steven Vaughan and Rachael Dickson. Research for this project and the use of data has been approved by the University of Sheffield ethics procedure. Publisher Copyright: © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2020/4/2

Y1 - 2020/4/2

N2 - Studying abroad as part of a degree has become commonplace for many students in European and other developed countries. Universities actively promote opportunities as part of internationalization strategies. Whilst research has looked into the ‘abroad’ aspect of study abroad, there is less literature on the ‘study’ aspect, and in particular, the effects that the period has on academic achievement. This article provides evidence that studying abroad has a beneficial effect on overall academic achievement. The article compares the final degree grades of students at Sheffield Law School (UK) who participated in a year studying abroad, with those who did not. Interviews with students across the period deepen the qualitative dimension to the research by exploring how students felt about their academic experience. Whilst few students opt to go abroad for the purposes of improving grades, most feel that the additional confidence and maturity, alongside deeper knowledge of their subject and a break in the pattern of their studies, contributes to their higher achievement.

AB - Studying abroad as part of a degree has become commonplace for many students in European and other developed countries. Universities actively promote opportunities as part of internationalization strategies. Whilst research has looked into the ‘abroad’ aspect of study abroad, there is less literature on the ‘study’ aspect, and in particular, the effects that the period has on academic achievement. This article provides evidence that studying abroad has a beneficial effect on overall academic achievement. The article compares the final degree grades of students at Sheffield Law School (UK) who participated in a year studying abroad, with those who did not. Interviews with students across the period deepen the qualitative dimension to the research by exploring how students felt about their academic experience. Whilst few students opt to go abroad for the purposes of improving grades, most feel that the additional confidence and maturity, alongside deeper knowledge of their subject and a break in the pattern of their studies, contributes to their higher achievement.

KW - Erasmus

KW - internationalization

KW - law

KW - Study abroad

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060929529&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/21568235.2019.1573695

DO - 10.1080/21568235.2019.1573695

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85060929529

SN - 2156-8235

VL - 10

SP - 147

EP - 163

JO - European Journal of Higher Education

JF - European Journal of Higher Education

IS - 2

ER -