Date of Award

Fall 12-15-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

PhD Higher Education Leadership, Management, Policy

Department

Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Advisor

Santiago Castiello-Gutiérrez, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Mary Kate Naatus, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Randall Clemens, Ph.D.

Keywords

Residence life, education abroad, transformational learning, student affairs, collaboration, faculty

Abstract

Short-term education abroad programs are designed to increase students’ intercultural competencies, expose them to new cultures and languages, prepare them for future employability, and further their academic development (Castiello-Gutiérrez & Gozik, 2022; Yao, 2021). While education abroad programs may result in strong benefits for students, they are not without their challenges when it comes to facilitating and managing them. Both the faculty who lead these programs and the students who participate in them face challenges respective to their experiences abroad. Many researchers emphasize collaboration between student affairs and academic affairs to alleviate these challenges, but no one office is identified as being the ideal office to collaborate with (Barr, 2013; Madden et al., 2019; Rhodes et al., 2012; Roberts et al., 2022). While there are many student affairs offices that could support the student experience, residence life professionals are in a unique position to influence students’ development and holistic growth (Burke et al., 2014; Kunk-Czaplicki & Wilson, 2023).

To understand the challenges that students and faculty face when participating and leading short-term education abroad programs and how the work of residence life professionals might align with these challenges, a phenomenological study was conducted across three small to mid-sized Catholic higher education institutions. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were performed with three participant groups: students, faculty, and residence life professionals. Along with these interviews, the data was supplemented with observations at one education abroad site; I used my residence life background to provide support to students and faculty while on the trip and it was documented through journal reflections.

The findings highlighted the variety of challenges that faculty and students faced while abroad. Students reported dealing with stress, guilt, imposter syndrome, and anxiety, with some struggling to process the difficult program content they were encountering firsthand and requiring additional support to work through those emotions. Beyond their emotional health, students also experienced illness, difficulties with medical accommodation, concerns about physical safety, and navigating peer conflict. While faculty were generally able to address these challenges, they spoke about the weight of the responsibility of providing 24/7 student support in these areas and the toll it took on their own mental health. In contrast, the professional preparation of residence life staff closely aligned with many of the issues faculty and students encountered abroad, including responding to mental health crises, mediating roommate conflicts, enforcing policies, and addressing physical health concerns. Moreover, residence life professionals shared that they are trained to holistically support and develop students in residential environments, fostering safe and inclusive communities where students can thrive. Ultimately, the findings suggest that residence life professionals could serve as valuable collaborators for faculty on short-term education abroad programs by filling gaps in student support. By providing students with more holistic support, they can contribute to creating a more comfortable and engaging environment for students to lean into the transformational learning of these programs.

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