Education for Responsible Future Leaders: International Experience and Civic Engagement

Abstract

Does international experience lead to more positive attitudes towards civic engagement among college students? We utilized a two-pronged approach to examine the relationships between global education and civic engagement. The results suggest that empathy and cultural intelligence enhance students’ civic engagement, including community involvement and career aspirations to work for employers who demonstrate corporate social responsibilities (CSR) in the local community. In addition, we found that only when students develop more empathy and cultural intelligence, then they will have higher civic engagement. These findings suggest the need to carefully designing a curriculum that translates students’ international experience into civic engagement.