Yuki AMAKI
Organization for International Collaboration, Meiji University, Japan. ORCID id: 0000-0002-6794-8870. Email id: amaki@meiji.ac.jp
Volume 10, Number 2, 2018 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v10n2.10
Received December 20, 2017; Revised March 14, 2018; Accepted March 30, 2018; Published May 06, 2018.
Abstract
It is to be expected that a significant difference should exist in the development of global-mindedness between students with study-abroad experience and those with none. This study seeks to examine how U.S. college students, in comparison with Japanese college students, describe the concept of global-mindedness. The target population for this survey was current undergraduate college students in the U.S. and Japan. In the background section of the survey, I indicated each student’s year in college and whether or not she or he had studied abroad. The next section of the survey sought to measure global preparedness. 209 U.S. college students and 120 Japanese college students responded to this survey. U.S. college students and Japanese students responded in fundamentally similar ways, with some notable differences. Both characterized awareness of other cultures as an essential characteristic of globally minded adults. However, most U.S. college students indicated open-mindedness and global awareness as characteristics of global-mindedness, while many Japanese college students indicated flexibility to work on different teams and possession of foreign language skills. Japanese college students emphasized individual strength, identity, and language ability, whereas U.S. college students emphasized ability to understand other cultures. On study abroad experience, the outcomes did not show measurable differences in global mindedness between those with and those without international experience, either among Japanese or US students. This study highlights differences in the ways Japanese and U.S. college students think about their careers and the degree and kinds of global preparedness necessary to accomplish career goals.
Keywords: global careers, global-mindedness, global leaders, higher education, globalization.
