This article explores the pathways in international education for young and mid-level professionals. In centering the diverse stories of educators who have non-traditional journeys to and within international education, we aim to demystify mobility and the meanings of “success” within the field. It addresses how educators understand their intersectional identities and identify the interpersonal and institutional challenges faced by professionals. This article will encourage professionals by providing concrete approaches that amplify their skillset and experiences.
AUTHORS:
Daniella Lubey, MSOD | Senior Program Coordinator, Northwestern University
Constance Holden | PhD Student, University of Connecticut
As international education changes in the face of multiple pandemics, understanding how best to support career development is essential for attracting and retaining non-traditional, traditional, young, and mid-level professionals. In centering on the diverse stories of educators who have non-traditional journeys to and within international education, this article seeks to demystify mobility and the meanings of “success” within the field. Drawing on our 2022 Diversity Abroad Global Inclusion Conference presentation, we discussed a variety of career trajectories in international education. This article addresses how educators understand their identities and identify the interpersonal and institutional challenges faced by professionals. These experiences include the pursuit of advanced degrees, the importance of networking, and advice for transitioning within the field. Although these terms are not all encompassing of career stages and experience, based off our data, the terms help indicate the main trends and themes that we see in international higher education, for those who have pursued advanced degrees, and spent considerable time in the field.
We are defining our terms in the following ways:
Non-traditional: Individuals who have entered IE through a career change or brand new to field within the last 3 years
Traditional: Individuals in IE who studied, worked abroad and/or have an advanced degree (e.g., MA, MS, Ed.D, Ph.D)
Young Professional: 0-5 years in International Education or Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Mid-level Professional: 6-10 years in International Education or Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
As a young professional it is noted that there are various challenges within International Education. Based on our 2019 survey of young international educators, we identified 9 key challenges that they encountered in the field: 1) lack of mentorship, 2) tokenization & microaggressions, 3) building networks with other young professionals, 4) work/life balance, 5) pay and workload, 6) lack of funding (for professional opportunities), 7) being taken seriously, upward mobility, self-advocacy, and empowerment. In highlighting a few key report findings from the 2021 Diversity Abroad, Survey of Diversity and Inclusion Among International Educators, more than three-quarters of the respondent pool indicated they had studied abroad (78.8%). This means that this percentage is still falling into the “traditional” category. Suspension and eliminate programs; furlough and staff layoffs; and in some cases, closure of offices, eliminated departments, and dissolved organizations due to the unexpected duration of the pandemic have caused a huge shift in International Education staff.
Our testimonials reinforce these challenges. While the content of the work—advising students, collaborating with partner organizations, developing co-curricular programming—remains invigorating, structural inequities detract from the ability to remain fully committed. The ever-present bureaucracy in higher education, especially at the intersection of DEI work and International Education, produces a lack of clarity around priorities and an overburdening of responsibilities. At times, the work/life balance suffers in these offices because of additional financial infrastructures and budgetary boundaries. We must therefore think about how to move forward from these challenges, especially with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Where can we search for healing and a sense of belonging? Are we creating a community within our university, departments, and overall industry? These questions point out the need to foster inclusion across institutional spaces. In modeling inclusivity within the work cultures of international education, professionals will be better equipped to prepare students to practice the values of equity and inclusion.
Strategies for how to curate critical, constructive, and collaborative work environments emerge from our testimonials. For some, freelance work affords the opportunity to create flexible work schedules, non-hierarchical structures, and to still support students, staff, and faculty across a variety of institutions, departments, and provider programs. Similarly, within colleges and universities, professionals can encourage solution-driven approaches that embrace creativity and innovation. For many, commitment to tradition and the status quo hinders the ability to problem-solve in a way that meets the reality of student lives and institutional needs. Instead of adhering to deficit interpretations of student problems, educators can encourage a growth mindset that fosters critical thinking and empathy. In so doing, educators can embed reflective practices within institutional structures that understand change and innovation as worthy goals of higher education. The stories that we tell ourselves about who students are and what they need impede progress, produce dysfunction, and lead to stagnant institutions. Without challenging what we know about ourselves as educators, institutional work cultures will continue to impede inclusivity and belonging.
Among all our testimonials, we saw the importance of networking via the internet (LinkedIn, affinity groups, NAFSA, Diversity Abroad, etc.) or face to face in meetings, at conferences, or other formal/informal professional events. Mentorship allows for intergenerational and intersectional career connections while exposing professionals to new strategies for fostering inclusive work environments. Encouraging professionals at all stages of their career to network and collaborate with others in cutting edge research opportunities, conference proposal submissions regionally, nationally, and internationally, and becoming involved in professional and personal groups outside of the immediate workplace is an important way to increase employee retention and overall satisfaction and well-being in the workplace. With an opportunity to work on initiatives the employees are passionate about, the institution is allowing for creativity and fostering a place of inclusion to enhance diverse perspectives. That exposure helps widen career pathways within international education and beyond while also increasing collaboration and innovation within the field.
As articulated by W.E.B. DuBois, full citizenship rights and equality for Black people hinge on educational opportunity and experiences. This work reframes the discussion on racial equality in higher education by exploring the link between study abroad, Black liberation and the current and historic systemic exclusion of Blacks in higher education.
AUTHORS:
Linda D. Smith, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations, American University in Dubai
Karen E. Clay, Ph.D. | Director for Semester Study Abroad and Cultural Orientation, Spelman College
The focus on access to higher education is part of a larger struggle for achieving racial equality for Black Americans. As universities attempt to be on the forefront of the growing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) movements, often absent from national discussions is the role of international education. This further highlights the elitist and exclusionary nature of university education. Without drastic measures to improve current disparities in access to higher education and education abroad, racial inequality which has been perpetuated throughout the history of higher education in the United States will be exacerbated.
W.E.B. DuBois modeled over a century ago that access to higher education and learning abroad are the impetus to solutions for racial inequality. “[B]etween the time that I graduated from college [PhD, Harvard, 1895] and the day of my first experience at earning a living, there was arising in this land, and more especially within the Negro group, a controversy.”(1) The controversy dealt with what type of education Blacks and the formerly enslaved should receive in a country that prioritized the standing of White men. DuBois underscored an approach to Black liberation which requires education. According to Beck, DuBois’ three years abroad in Germany were crucial to DuBois’ development of inquiries on racial inequality, expansion of social citizenship, and the role of educated elites and government interventions in framing solutions to the Negro Problem (2). Higher education and more specifically education abroad has historically played an instrumental role in shaping the country’s leadership which created persistent institutionalized exclusion of Blacks from higher ranks in politics, government, and industry.
From the mid- to late 1800s, the greatest beneficiaries of higher education and education abroad were the sons of White wealthy elites (3). This cadre of Americans incorporated and completed education abroad through “grand tours” as a mark of sophistication, eruditeness, and access to international circles with social and political reach (4). Progressive Era politics and its ethos of social citizenship rights led to government reforms expanding access to higher education for middle- and working class Whites while often excluding Blacks. The Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 (Land Grant Acts) resulted in a proliferation of public flagship universities while requiring states that practice segregation to create separate institutions for Blacks. Additionally, the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, or GI Bill, proved instrumental to the expansion of access to higher education by equipping White veterans and simultaneously denying Black veterans funding to support educational opportunities (5). The relationship between expansion of access for Whites and exclusion of Blacks in higher education and its link to education abroad are illustrated in the case of University of Delaware (UD).
Founded in 1743, UD is credited with establishing the country’s first wide-scale study abroad program in 1923 by World War I veteran Raymond W. Kirkbride (6). As Black students were denied admissions to UD, to comply with the second Morrill Act 1890, the Delaware Legislature opened Delaware State University in 1891 as the state’s college for Blacks. Because historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) quickly became overcrowded and under-resourced, this inequity served as the basis of several civil rights court cases that targeted segregation in public schools, especially institutions of higher education. In Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma (1948), the court held that colleges offering coursework and degrees not available at Black colleges must permit Blacks to apply and enroll into those programs at the segregated White institutions. It was only then that UD and other land-grant universities admitted Black students into programs not offered at HBCUs.
These universities continued to exclude Black people from admissions and subsequently opportunities and resources these institutions provide, such as education abroad. During the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, several land-grant universities in the South were placed under federal court order to demonstrate action plans to address Black exclusion. However, these plans which came to be termed affirmative action were not enforced and were swiftly challenged in federal courts starting in the 1970s, a battle which continues presently (7) (8). In fact, research clearly illustrates that Black enrollment rates, particularly at public elite universities, continue to decline as Supreme Court decisions, state ballot initiatives, and legislative acts restrict the use of race-conscious admission strategies (9). Further, these larger trends of declining Black enrollment must be central to discussions on low participation rates of Black students in education abroad.
As of 2021 Black participation in study abroad is at its lowest in years. According to the Institute for International Education (IIE) Open Doors Report 2022 Fast Facts, Black represented 4.1% of students who studied abroad compared to 68% White in 2020-2021 (10). Whereas participation increased by other ethnic groups including Asian/Pacific Islander 10%, and Hispanic/Latino(a) 12% (11). Only Blacks’ (4.1%) and Native Americans’ (0.4%) rates decreased during the pandemic years of 2020-2021 (12). These participation figures in isolation provide an incomplete illustration. Participation rates must be considered in the larger context of declining Black enrollment rates at more resourced land-grant universities under affirmative action bans (13).
As the world becomes more interconnected, preparing Black graduates for the globalized workforce and opportunities that maximize their earning potential is clearly an issue of equity and access. However, those concerned with racial equity in higher education must not only recognize the material and monetary impact Blacks suffer when denied opportunities for access to higher education and education abroad, but importantly they also should recognize the loss of intangible and intellectual opportunities. Consider DuBois. Recall that it was during his education abroad when he formulated liberation theories and action plans that had an incalculable impact on Blacks throughout the world.
Notes:
(1) DuBois, W. E. B. 1932. “Education and Work”. Journal of Negro Education 1 (1): 60–74.
(2) Beck, H. 1996. “W. E. B. Du Bois as a Study Abroad Student in Germany, 1892-1894”. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad 2 (1): 45–63. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v2i1.25.
(3) Hoffa, W., and Forum on Education Abroad. 2007. A History of US Study Abroad: Beginnings to 1965. Carlisle, Pa: Forum on Education Abroad.
(4) Cleveland, H., Mangone, G., & Adams, J. 1960. The Overseas American. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Hibbert, C. 1969. The Grand Tour. Weidenfeld and Nicolson; Hoffa and Forum on Education Abroad. 2007.
(5) Katznelson, I. 2006. When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America. New York: W.W. Norton.
(6) University of Delaware. (2023). “Our Study Abroad History.” Website https://www.udel.edu/academics/global/study-abroad/history/
(7) Saul, Stephanie. 2023. “If Affirmative Action Ends, College Admissions May Be Changed Forever.” The New York Times, January 15, 2023, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/15/us/affirmative-action-admissions-scotus.html.
(8) Bauer-Wolf, Jeremy. 2023. “Supreme Court Justices Question When Race-Conscious College Admissions Can End.” Higher Ed Dive. October 31, 2023. https://www.highereddive.com/news/supreme-court-asks-when-race-conscious-admissions-ends/635394/.
(9) Smith, Linda. 2021. “Discourse, Threats, and Affirmative Action: A Comparative Analysis of Race-based University Admissions Programs in Brazil and the United States.” PhD diss. (Florida International University, 2021).
(10) Open Doors Report 2022 Fast Facts. n.d. Institute for International Education, Inc. The Institute of International Education. Accessed December 7, 2022. https://opendoorsdata.org/fast_facts/fast-facts-2022/.
(11) Open Doors Report 2022 Fast Facts. n.d. Institute for International Education, Inc. The Institute of International Education. Accessed December 7, 2022. https://opendoorsdata.org/fast_facts/fast-facts-2022/.
(12) Open Doors Report 2010-2021 Fast Facts. n.d. Institute for International Education, INC. The Institute of International Education. Accessed December 7, 2022. https://opendoorsdata.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Fast-Facts-2010-2021.pdf.
Bista, Krishna and Anthony L. Pinder. 2022. Reimagining Internationalization and International Initiatives at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Springer Nature.
Cole, J. B. 1991. “Black Students and Overseas Programs: Broadening the Base of Participation.” Proceedings of CIEE 43rd International Conference on Educational Exchange: International Education: Broadening the Base of Participation. Charleston, South Carolina: Council on International Educational Exchange.
Cleveland, Harlan, Gerard J. Mangone, and John C. Adams. 1960. The Overseas American. McGraw-Hill Book Company.
DuBois, W. E. B. 1932. “Education and Work”. Journal of Negro Education 1 (1): 60–74.
Hibbert, Christopher. 1969. The Grand Tour. Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Hoffa, William W. 2007. A History of U.S. Study Abroad: Beginnings to 1965 (Volume 1). TheForum on Education Abroad.
Katznelson, Ira. 2006. When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America. W.W. Norton and Company.
Smith, L. 2021. “Discourse, Threats, and Affirmative Action: A Comparative Analysis of Race-based University Admissions Programs in Brazil and the United States.” PhD diss. (Florida International University, 2021).
Trooboff, Stevan, Michael Vande Berg, and Jack Rayman. (2007). “Employer Attitudes toward Study Abroad.” Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad 15 (1): 17–34. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v15i1.214.
Through the use of the Appreciative Advising Framework, this article provides strategies to advise first generation and underrepresented students who are applying for the Gilman Scholarship and other nationally competitive awards. A useful handout is also provided with sample advising tips and questions for advisors working with students.
At Diversity Abroad we celebrate Thanksgiving as a time to share and connect with those we care for. We are thankful for our families, friends, and community that support our mission. We recognize that for many, Thanksgiving may not be a time for celebration but a time for mourning. We encourage you to take the time to reflect on what the holiday may represent for others. As global educators, we will often encounter differences in how people around the world celebrate historical events and holidays.
This weekend we encourage you to take an intercultural approach to Thanksgiving, a very U.S. American holiday, and reflect on the ways that others observe and experience the day. We invite you to consider the questions below in your reflection.
In what ways can we build our own awareness of the United States historically fraught treatment of indigenous communities and immigrants? Are there ways we can develop meaningful partnerships with the Tribal Nations within our communities or regions?
How can we make space for storytelling to hear others’ experiences and perceptions of Thanksgiving?
In addition to these questions, we’d invite you to consider these resources and ideas for celebrating Thanksgiving respectfully.
Build Personal Awareness
Learn about the Indigenous communities’ land, territories, and languages where you live and work. Reviewing the resources available from Native Land is a great place to start.
Explore ways to recognize the land and water of your local region through a land acknowledgement.
Pay it forward by volunteering your time at a local organization or shelter.
Donate to a local Indigenous organization or offer in kind services to support a local initiative.
Support Native American/Indigenous student organizations on your campus or the Native American/Indigenous student resource center or multicultural office.
Our Mission
Diversity Abroad’s mission is to create equitable access to the benefits of global education by empowering educators, engaging stakeholders, and connecting diverse students to resources and opportunity.
By: Sub-group of 2021-2022 Career Advancement & Belonging Task Force
Daniella Lubey, Study Abroad Advisor, University of San Francisco
Adam Freed, Global Learning Coordinator, University of California Santa Cruz
Oi Yin Lo, Assistant Coordinator, China & Italy, FIT State University of New York
In the early days of international education, the administrative responsibilities of program development and implementation were nearly always undertaken by scholars and/or practitioners from other disciplines. Rather than focusing solely on international mobility, these professionals balanced international education with other administrative duties, athletic coaching, teaching, research, or other work. The data has shown that international education employees are burned out due to many universities, offices and institutions that are doing more with fewer resources. Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. Sound familiar? “Prolonged or repeated stress” would describe a normal day in many international offices, but since 2020, we’ve also been living in a world where the stress baseline has been raised considerably. Stress is a part of any job, but within the context of the pandemic and the “Great Resignation”, it begs the question: “Is burnout inevitable?”. International education professionals were forced to become crisis managers and work long hours to serve the needs of their students, but at the same time this took a huge toll on them personally.
In conducting a survey with the Diversity Abroad Career Advancement and Belonging Task Force, we received over 110 responses from current and former international education professionals on burnout in the field. Nearly three quarters of respondents work at a higher education institution and have over six years of experience in the field. Over 70% reported colleagues leaving the international education field in the past two years. While the majority of respondents noted that international education has always been a high-volume, fast-paced work environment, nearly 97% attributed these departures to the following main factors: burnout, low staffing to address workload, budgetary constraints, and insufficient compensation. Respondents had mixed feelings about staying motivated in the work that they care about, regardless of their years of commitment to the field. Over 25% felt their supervisor did not recognize their contribution to the team and over 30% did not feel supported by their supervisor and/or institution/organization; as a result many left their jobs. Taking time off for health and wellness was another area in which respondents did not feel comfortable doing.
Burnout is not discussed enough within our organizations. Resolving burnout often requires some kind of changes at the job, team, or organizational level. In developing self care practices to mitigate physical, emotional, and mental effects of burnout it is important to first of all, prioritize your health. In framing a new perspective about career situations, employees must consider which aspects of your personal and professional life are fixed and which can be changed. It is best to ask ourselves, what can we control and what is beyond our control? Hierarchical and other workplace structures can have an impact on contributing to or reducing burnout. Leaders play a big role in mitigating burnout among their employees. Discuss with your employer about your personal priorities in order to set realistic boundaries and guardrails in the workplace, press upon the necessity for a work-life balance and engage in personal rest and renewal. Continuing to allow flexible working arrangements is another area that can strengthen employee support and satisfaction. If necessary, ask people in your workplace or in your network for help or training that may be needed to succeed.
There is no doubt that pre-pandemic international education work was challenging, but as we have and are living through the COVID era, even more barriers have become ever present and we must take action to decrease burnout in international education.
Title: Sustainability in Action: Integrating SDGs into International Education
Presenters:
Sean Reilly, AFS
Saskia Kaya, AFS
Description:
Integrating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into international education programs enhances their global impact. This session explores how SDG-focused curricula prepare students and educators for responsible and informed global citizenship..
Discuss how SDGs can be seamlessly integrated into curriculum and program design.
Highlight the value of aligning international education goals with global sustainability objectives.
Share examples of collaborative projects or community engagement initiatives tied to SDGs.
Explore the benefits of preparing students with sustainability-focused learning outcomes.
Title: Identity & Inclusion at the Crossroads: Involving Students in the Development of Practical Support Strategies in the European Context
Leadra Reeves, CASA Granada Spring ’24 Alum & Travel Grant Awardee
Dani Kaufman-Sedano, CASA Granada Spring ’23 Alum & Travel Grant Awardee
Description:
Join a seasoned study abroad director and two program alums as they share their stories, effective strategies, easy-to-implement practices, and the measurable outcomes that result from incorporating student voices in the development of inclusive support services onsite. In this deep-dive session, we invite you to engage in the exercise of validating the lived experiences of recent graduates whose identities span a range of both visible and invisible identities that we often encounter among our student cohorts, and of translating those experiences into concrete strategies. More specifically, based on both research findings and direct personal experiences, we will:
Come to a comprehensive understanding of inclusion, drawing from the different approaches utilized in Europe and the U.S., and the lived experiences of our students at this crossroads, and use it as the foundation for building inclusive programs and practices.
Explore the importance and the impact of inclusive approaches in academic and cultural adjustment support on students’ overall wellbeing and personal growth.
Identify specific challenges that students of varying identities face while studying abroad in Europe, with a particular focus on students of low-income backgrounds, Black students, LGBTQ+ students, and students of different religious backgrounds.
Discuss intentional support services/resources that study abroad programs can provide for diverse student populations in close collaboration with their host partners – institutions, host families, faculty, community organizations – and how to approach potential obstacles that may surface.
Engage with the process of developing, implementing and evaluating the success of inclusive initiatives, and measuring the direct impact on your students and the future of your program!
Title: From Abroad to Beyond: Turning European Experiences into Career Success
Presenters:
Nicola Sullivan, AIFS
Maya Edwards, AIFS
Description:
Global education experiences in Europe equip students with unique skills for careers in public and private sectors. This session highlights how these experiences translate into employability and career preparedness.
Explore how global education in Europe impacts students’ employability and career preparedness.
Identify transferable skills developed through international education and their alignment with workforce demands.
Discuss reverse culture shock and strategies to leverage the abroad experience professionally.
Showcase alumni success stories to inspire future students.
Concurrent Session Block 3
The Role of the Global University in Navigating Conflict, Dialogue, Transformation — How campuses cultivate dialogue, resilience, and civic readiness amid geopolitical tension while keeping learning and community at the center.
Partnerships that Drive Real Collaboration & Innovation — Models that move beyond finance-only deals to co-created programs, research, and talent pathways linking MENA and global institutions.
Concurrent Session Block 2
Making the Student Success Case for International Education to Campus Leadership — How to build deeper support for global learning among campus leadership by framing international education as a key driver to improving student success.
Inclusion in MENA: Narratives, Demographics & Opportunity — Public narratives about MENA are often formed at a distance. This session examines inclusion through societal trends and the policy frameworks that enable openness and stability.
The Value of International & Experiential Study Through the Lens of Global Employers — What employers say global and experiential learning uniquely delivers, from teamwork across cultures to problem-solving on real projects.
Concurrent Session Block 1
Preparing Today’s International Students for Tomorrow’s Workforce — How institutions align global and experiential learning along with employer partnerships so international students translate global study into career readiness and impact.
Unique Mental Health & Wellbeing Considerations for Study to & from MENA — Culturally grounded approaches that support student wellbeing across languages, faith, family expectations, and cross-border transitions.
Tech for Global Education: What’s Actually Working? — Practical, people-first uses of digital tools that expand reach, improve student support, and strengthen collaboration without turning staff into technologists.
