Volume 50, Issue 1

International educators have long asserted that study abroad improves students’ intercultural competence. However, the evidence is less clear than the rhetoric suggests. Examining longitudinal data from a national study of college students, this study explores the impact of study abroad on intercultural competence while accounting for a host of precollege characteristics, institutional differences, college experiences, and study abroad intent. Results challenge prior assertions and complicate our understanding of the educational impact of study abroad

In this qualitative case study, we explored students’ peer interactions within their cohort and in the host countries during a short-term study abroad. Framed by Bronfenbrenner’s (1993) ecological systems theory, findings revealed that students spent considerable energy reflecting on interactions with peers. The students considered themselves loners, mediators, messengers, and learners. Findings illustrate the need to attend to students’ differing personal attributes and relationships with peers, as these affect their overall experiences.

This study explored the extent to which cross-racial interaction (CRI) influences postcollege pluralistic orientation and leadership skills for Division I White studentathlete graduates and the degree to which engagement effects are conditional on their precollege neighborhoods. Findings revealed that CRI during college had lasting benefits on pluralistic orientation and leadership skills after college for White student- athletes from racially diverse neighborhoods; further, CRI had long-term effects on leadership skills after college for White student-athletes from segregated precollege neighborhoods. Implications for student affairs professionals are discussed.

Interacting with faculty has several benefits for students; however, little research has explored faculty-student interactions that are neither academic nor social, but occur within the context of students’ work. This interpretive study reviews experiences of 73 resident advisors whose work responsibilities require interaction with faculty. Findings suggest required interactions can lead to more personal relationships and provide important pre-professional skills and outcomes, but are less closely related to mentorship and academic outcomes.

Sorority women and fraternity men are more likely than other students to be survivors and perpetrators of sexual assault, respectively. The present study examined sorority and fraternity members’ rape myth acceptance, bystander efficacy, and bystander willingness to help in potential sexual assault situations. Sorority women were more rejecting of rape myths and were more willing to intervene than fraternity men. However, no difference in bystander efficacy was found. Implications of this contrast are discussed.

This qualitative case study explored how undergraduate students’ involvement with change-oriented service-learning contributed to their civic-political development. Using Baxter Magolda’s notion of self-authorship as an analytic lens, findings suggested that students’ involvement with change-oriented service-learning led to (a) deeper and more nuanced understandings of citizenship, (b) a developed sense of efficacy as citizens, and (c) an increased awareness of self in relation to others and their communities. Implications for practice in student affairs are addressed.