- See our previous post on how study abroad not only changes your life, but also your brain & why culture shock is good for you!
Two researchers at Duke found that regular interaction with international students significantly develops key skills of domestic students. They just published their findings in the Journal of International Students.
Yet one more reason to systematically globalize honors education and education more generally!
Here is the review in The Chronicle (subscription required), and here is the one in Bloomberg BusinessWeek:
Not only did graduates who interacted with international students in college go on to acquirie the skills you’d expect — speaking a foreign language and relating well to people of different cultures — they also developed a host of cognitive skills that are seemingly unrelated.
Among them: the ability to question their own beliefs and values; acquire new skills and knowledge independently; formulate creative ideas; integrate ideas and information; achieve quantitative abilities; understand the role of science and technology in society; and gain in-depth knowledge in a specific field. In each case, graduates who reported high levels of interaction with international students reported “significantly higher levels of skill development” than those who reported little or no interaction.