2012

With the power of personal cross-cultural contact in mind, and the limited study abroad research in counselor education, the current research study sought to assess the impact of a study abroad experience on graduate counseling students and counselors. This research explored the question: What is the impact of a study abroad institute on participants’ multicultural awareness of self, knowledge of others, and skills in working with culturally diverse individuals? The proposed research was designed to expand on Jurgens and McAuliffe’s previous study by discovering the impact of a more intentional multicultural study abroad counseling experience, again in Ireland. (Note: Ireland will here refer to both the Irish Republic and the province of Northern Ireland, which are separate political entities.) Unlike Jurgens and McAuliffe’s study, the current study examined the influence of the study abroad experience on multicultural counseling competency (cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills).