Study Abroad as a Path to Equity and Justice

We live in a complex global society. There are dynamics of power and privilege locally, nationally, and internationally — much of which is ultimately rooted in the common human trait to make assumptions about “the other.”

A crucial step to addressing these issues is to challenge our assumptions and learn to see “the other” as human. Without it, we can’t possibly know what a more just set of systems would look like.

Courtney brilliantly highlights the risk inherent in study abroad: it can be an extractive industry, benefiting the privileged and taxing already vulnerable communities. But, study abroad is not inherently extractive. If built with the goal to bring people together across systemic barriers to learn from each other, it can be a powerful pathway to a more just world.

Ethical programs start with study abroad providers and their local hosts establishing partnerships to help the students learn. The challenge then lies in arranging a program that creates a space for the host community to be treated as experts and educators.

In our work at Thinking Beyond Borders, we’ve included several components to ensure exactly this. We believe hosts should be compensated for their efforts to provide education. We try to minimize the burden of hosting students by ensuring our staff provide daily living and learning support. Perhaps most importantly, we challenge the students with a pedagogy and curriculum that pushes them to question their assumptions about the world and themselves. We strive toward honest and humble inquiry.

We’ve sent students to a community in South Africa for eight years to learn about public health. Our host partner provides home-based care to patients throughout the townships surrounding Plettenberg Bay. The caregivers are mostly local women, many of whom lack a high school education and are counted among those living with HIV in their community.

Students shadow them for five weeks at a time. They ask the caregivers about their work and the conditions in their home and community. They observe the caregivers and are taught about the dynamics of public health issues in the host community.

According to our partner, the caregivers feel like respected professionals throughout the process. Our mostly White, American, privileged students cross the world to learn from them. For some Black African and Colored women — especially those who have lived through Apartheid — this is a deeply humanizing experience. And our students return to the U.S. with a dynamic understanding of public health, HIV/AIDS in sub-saharan Africa, and their own capacity to love and empathize with others.

Ultimately, how we approach study abroad is a reflection of our assumptions about the world and ourselves. Study abroad is ultimately a tool that can be wielded recklessly or with careful intent and critical reflection. For those who want a more just and equitable world, it’s well worth employing — as long as we’re conscious of its potential for both great harm and great good.

The Development Set is made possible by funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We retain editorial independence.