Learning Outcomes of Study-Abroad Programs: A Meta-Analysis

The increasing number of participants in study-abroad programs coupled with conflicting evidence about learning from these experiences motivated this study. I meta-analyzed 72 study-abroad investigations (N = 7,820) reporting on three learning areas: cognitive or language acquisition, affective or multicultural attitudes, and behavioral or intercultural adaptation. Meta-analytic results ranged from large (cognitive δ = 0.975) to mid- (attitude, δ = 0.457; behavioral, δ = 0.649) effect sizes with no 95% confidence intervals including zero values. To contrast learning abroad to efforts at home, I conducted a second meta-analysis (19 studies, N = 3,740) on similar affective and behavioral outcomes in at-home instruction. I also benchmarked against an existing meta-analysis on language acquisition (Plonsky, 2011). I found that outcomes from studying abroad surpass what Plonsky reports for cognitive learning at home (δ = 0.55) and what the meta-analysis for at-home instruction shows for affective (δ = 0.253) and behavioral (δ = 0.532) learning. I also found that two features of study-abroad programs—type of immersion and program content—moderate the effectiveness of studying abroad. In the Discussion section, I interpret findings in light of the current stream of research and provide recommendations for future study-abroad experiences.