What's more, a 2017 IIE report revealed that a large majority of students gave study abroad high marks for career development. They developed a wide range of job skills and expanded their understanding of career possibilities. More than half said they believed their experience abroad contributed to a job offer. (See complete 2017 IIE report here)

However, the challenge for international educators is making connections between study abroad experiences and career skills in ways that students and their future employers can easily recognize. Employers value the international experience, but they don’t necessarily know how to value it, therefore, students can think consciously about it and translate those related skills into interviews or discussions with employers.

Teamwork and collaboration between key stakeholders and partners is essential to ensure that education abroad experiences focus on skill development.

Faculty can guide students to connect to skills and reflect on them during and after programming if they have some sort of structure with deliverables. Career advisers can help students translate study abroad experiences into marketable skills in interviews and résumés through counseling or activities and provide advice to faculty and program leaders. Alumni offices can provides information about studying abroad and its benefits in past participants' current careers, as well as internship or job shadowing opportunities for current study abroad students. Career networking, extended by the network effect, can bring students together to discuss their study abroad experiences and to work together on résumés or other career objectives.

Undoutedly, education abroad can help students with their career development where collaboration between partners is needed to maximize the benefits of studying abroad.

Edited by: Shona Lu