Possibilities and Constraints of Fostering Deeper Study Abroad Experiences: The Lived Experiences of 50 Years of US Students in Japan

The number of US students studying abroad has more than doubled since the turn of the twenty-first century, from 154,168 in 2000-2001 to 332,727 in 2016-2017 (Institute of International Education 2010, 2018). This exponential increase reflects the growing recognition by higher education institutions and the federal government on the importance of providing international experiences to cultivate skills for a global competitive economy (Whatley 2018). In the US, study abroad is often used to refer to credit-seeking international mobile students enrolled in a higher education institution outside of the US. Credits earned abroad are usually used towards their academic degree at their home institution. Duration varies in length and includes short-term study abroad (typically eight weeks or less), mid-length study abroad (one semester or one or two quarters), and long-term study abroad (academic or calendar year). As the overall percentage of US students studying abroad in Europe declined from 62.9% in 2001-2002 to 54.4% in 2016-2017, the percentage going to Asia increased from 6.8% to 11.6%. With the rise of US students studying abroad, it is important to understand the mechanisms of how study abroad experiences can create opportunities to integrate into the host society and develop intercultural understanding. This paper examines how the design of a study abroad program and historical organizational changes may assist or hinder integration into the host society, based on 25 qualitative in-depth interviews with one-year and one-semester participants from the 1960s to 2010s on a select US study abroad program in Japan.