Introduction to Case Study:

Short-term programs can deliver rigorous, assessable career readiness outcomes. The key is not how long students travel. It is how intentionally the experience is designed.

This paper examines student reflective writing from a two-week embedded program in the Bahamas. It finds clear, quotable evidence of all eight NACE Career Readiness competencies across twelve student reflections. Structured reflection tools and intentional site selection made the difference. The program was not originally designed around NACE competencies. The outcomes appeared anyway, because the design put students in high-stakes, culturally complex situations and gave them a framework to process what they experienced.

This matters for every professional who works at the intersection of global education and student success. The challenge facing our field is not that short-term programs lack value. It is that we lack consistent frameworks to document and communicate that value.

Case Study Information:

• GBUS 330 · International Organizational Behavior in the Bahamian Context · The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University
• 12 student reflections analyzed
• All 8 NACE career readiness competencies evidenced
• 2-week program duration

• Faculty and program directors. This research offers a replicable model. Structured reflection frameworks mapped to NACE competencies can be built into any faculty-led program, before or after travel. You don’t have to start from scratch.
• International education administrators. This paper gives you a data-supported argument to take to institutional leadership. Short-term embedded programs belong in the same conversation as high-impact practices. Here is the evidence to make that case.
• Career services professionals. Student reflections from global programs already contain career-ready language. This research shows how to surface it, code it, and help students translate their experiences into resume language, portfolio entries, and interview narratives.

• All eight NACE competencies appeared in student writing from a single two-week program. From critical thinking at historical sites to AI ethics discussions with local professionals, each competency showed up with specificity and depth.
• Discomfort was the most consistent driver of growth. Students most often named difficult moments as their most impactful: confronting colonial history, navigating social anxiety, adapting to unfamiliar professional norms. Programs that lean into productive discomfort produce stronger outcomes than those that prioritize comfort.
• Equity and inclusion functioned as a connective thread, not a standalone competency. Themes of power, identity, and difference surfaced across nearly every competency domain. Programs that engage honestly with history and social complexity produce more holistic career readiness outcomes for all students.
• Structured reflection unlocks career-ready language students already have. The Heart/Brain/Stomach framework gave students scaffolding to articulate their growth in ways that directly translate to career conversations. Open-ended reflection alone does not produce the same result.
• Career and self-development showed the deepest engagement. Direct access to global professionals prompted students to revisit career goals, question assumed paths, and recognize that success is not linear. This is hard to replicate in a classroom.
• Competency mapping works even when applied after the fact. This program was not designed using the NACE framework from the start. The outcomes were still there. Institutions do not need to redesign existing programs to begin documenting their career readiness value.

Map your existing program to NACE competencies. You do not need to travel anywhere new. Review your current site visits, learning objectives, and reflection activities. Identify where each competency is already being activated. Build the matrix into your syllabus and share it with career services.

Use structured reflection as an assessment tool. Multi-lens frameworks produce richer, more career-translatable writing than open-ended prompts. Build daily or post-visit reflection into the program structure. Code the responses for competency language. This is your evidence base.

Include at least one site that engages historical or social inequity. This is where the deepest competency growth consistently emerges across leadership, professionalism, and equity and inclusion. Do not design it out of the program in favor of positive experiences only.

Connect the data to career services before students return home. Student reflections from the field contain résumé language and interview narratives. Career advisors can help students recognize and use it. This partnership is most effective when it starts during the program, not after.

Reframe short-term programs to leadership and accreditors. Use the NACE/WEF mapping tool and the competency mapping approach from this research to demonstrate assessable outcomes. Short-term embedded programs are high-impact practices, when there is documented infrastructure that highlights outcomes.

Global learning is not a supplement to career readiness. It is a driver of it. Read our full report, Global Education as a Career Success Imperative, for the research, frameworks, and strategies your institution needs to make that case.

Deborah J. Pembleton, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Global Business Leadership Department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. She co-chaired the ACE Internationalization Steering Committee and leads embedded study abroad programs, including trips to the Bahamas. This resource was published on May 19, 2026. Learn more about Dr. Pembleton.