College students’ perceptions of studying abroadand their readiness

Dian-Fu Chang

Received: 2 January 2012 / Revised: 23 June 2012 / Accepted: 9 July 2012 / Published online: 24 July 2012

� Education Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 2012

Abstract This study aims to determine what college

students believe is essential on studying abroad and

investigates which programs they prefer for outbound

study. The trend of globalization and expansion of higher

education have resulted in changes for studying abroad

programs in numerous Asian countries. In particular, the

overprovided undergraduate and graduate education system

in Taiwan raises questions on how college students per-

ceive such outbound study. This paper collected survey

data from 219 college students at 2 universities in Taiwan

to analyze their opinions and levels of readiness on

studying abroad programs. This study applied fuzzy

methods to transform the data and interpret the results, and

the findings showed that gender and college major influ-

ence student perceptions on the importance of studying

abroad, as well as their readiness to study abroad. Typi-

cally, women exhibit more preparedness for studying

abroad than their male counterparts. Following the

expansion of higher education in Taiwan, more students are

considering studying abroad programs for short-term stay

in foreign countries. According to the patterns of percep-

tion, this study built fuzzy models to explain the consis-

tency of importance and levels of readiness on studying

abroad. The results reveal that fuzzy statistics can be used

for proper interpretation of the factors influencing students

to study abroad and their readiness.

Keywords College students � Study abroad � Higher

education � Internationalization � Fuzzy statistics

Introduction

Increasing higher education populations have placed

enormous pressure on higher education systems of many

developing countries. Specifically, the rising number of

mobile students is possibly a partial outcome of the

worldwide growth of higher education. As Bhandari and

Blumenthal (2011) claimed, with 3.3 million students

currently studying outside their home country, global stu-

dent mobility (or the migration of students across borders

for higher education) is a burgeoning phenomenon that

affects countries and their academic systems. Most coun-

tries currently view international academic mobility and

educational exchange as critical components for sharing

knowledge, building intellectual capital, and remaining

competitive in a globalizing world. In the United States

alone, higher education is the fifth largest service export

sector, with inbound international students contributing US

$17.7 billion to the economy each year (Bhandari and

Chow 2009).

An increasing numbers of students have realized that

studying abroad will enhance their career options, when

they enter a marketplace that requires knowledge and skills

beyond those taught at home. Numerous previous studies

have discussed the new developments in the field of

mobility such as branch campuses and the growing popu-

larity of virtual learning (Knight 2005; UNESCO/OECD

2005; Verbik and Merkley 2006). However, is studying

abroad the best choice for numerous students in many

countries? European exchange programs such as the

Erasmus Mundus, the U.S. Council on International Edu-

cational Student Exchange, and the Euro-American

‘‘Atlantis’’ program all envisage an urgent agenda on how

to balance local with more global criteria in higher edu-

cation. For instance, Erasmus was a trigger for a qualitative

D.-F. Chang (&)

Graduate Institute of Educational Policy and Leadership,

Tamkang University, No. 151, Yingzhuan Rd., Tamsui Dist.,

New Taipei City 25137, Taiwan

e-mail: 140626@mail.tku.edu.tw

123

Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. (2012) 13:583–591

DOI 10.1007/s12564-012-9221-1

leap of internationalization strategies and policies since the

1990s toward cooperation and mobility on equal terms and

toward systematic and strategic internationalization. The

‘‘Bologna Process’’ aimed to make higher education more

attractive to students from other parts of the world and to

facilitate intra-European mobility (Teichler 2009).

However, the number of students with visa to study

abroad has declined from 37,171 (2006) to 33,881 (2010)

in Taiwan. Almost the same period, the number of Tai-

wanese students selected to study in the United States has

shrunk from 29,094 to 26,685 (National Academy for

Educational Research Taiwan, ROC 2010). This study

concerns the students’ readiness for studying abroad. This

study sought to determine what students believe is essential

regarding study abroad, by investigating their program

preferences and using fuzzy statistics to evaluate student

readiness for outbound study. Given this purpose, this

study addresses the following research questions:

1. Which factors perceived by college students are

important for studying abroad?

2. Are college students ready to travel abroad for further

study?

3. Do they have any differences between the importance

of and readiness for selected factors to study abroad by

gender and colleges?

4. Which type of outbound program is more favored by

the college students?

The results of this study will provide suggestions for the

related policy makers to ameliorate the issues of studying

abroad.

Literature review

Global trend

Contemporary higher education has been influenced by two

mega-trends—massification and globalization (Shin and

Harman 2009). In the twenty-first century, globalization

has had a substantial impact on all of higher education, and

simultaneously, massification has influenced the globalized

academic environment. The dramatic increase in the

number of students studying outside the borders of their

home countries is one manifestation of this impact. Glob-

ally, the increase in the number of foreign students can be

contrasted to the rise in tertiary enrollment. According to

UNESCO data, 165 million students participated in formal

tertiary education worldwide in 2009; this is an increase of

65 million students since 2000 and a growth of 65 %

(UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2011). The number of

foreign students increased during the same period, from 2.1

to 3.7 million students, which is a growth of 77 %.

Consequently, the proportion of foreign students among all

tertiary students grew by 7 % from 2000 to 2009 (OECD

2011). Increased international study has numerous causes,

one of which is a lack of capacity in home countries, which

is an effect of massification. Other international initiatives

include the rapid growth of branch campuses, twinning

programs, joint degree arrangements, and the franchising

of academic programs (Altbach 2010). Trends in Taiwan

reflect traditional East Asian patterns; historically, sub-

stantial numbers of Taiwan university students studied in

the United States and Great Britain, whereas few incoming

international students chose the island nation as a host

destination. In recent years, the influx of international

students to Taiwan has increased significantly, rising from

6,380 in 2001 to 15,436 in 2007 (Ko 2008). The number of

international students in Taiwan has up to 21,356 in 2010

(National Academy for Educational Research, Taiwan,

ROC 2010).

International students

In the European context, it is likely that the rationales for

the internationalization of the student population at these

universities are deemed to be different, according to the

educational levels. For example, student exchange pro-

grams, such as the Socrates program or similar ones, tend

to be focused on undergraduate education under the scope

of an Europeanization process, which is characterized by

the rationale that cooperation and mobility aim to reinforce

cultural and social ties in the European space (Teichler

2004). The rationale of broadening cultural and social

horizons of students at a campus is—similar to the Soc-

rates/Erasmus programs—more related to the internation-

alization of students at undergraduate level than supporting

research activities, which is associated more with the

internationalization of the graduate student population

(Horta 2009). Erasmus student mobility flows have reached

a relevant level of 2 million since 1987, boosted in recent

years by the expansion of the program to Asian countries.

Compared to other leading host countries, the United

States remains the top destination for international stu-

dents, hosting approximately 21 % of all international

students worldwide, followed by the United Kingdom,

France, Germany, Australia, China, Canada, and Japan.

Although international students contribute substantially to

the diversity of the student body in many U.S. institutions,

on a national level they represented only 3.7 % of total

U.S. higher education enrollment in 2009. However, this

aggregate figure fails to convey their uneven distribution

across institutions, with roughly over half of international

students (54 %) in the country located within only 150 U.S.

institutions, which are mostly large research universi-

ties. For the academic level, approximately 42 % of

584 D.-F. Chang

123

international students in the United States studied at the

graduate level in 2008/2009, and a slightly less 40 %

studied at the undergraduate level. The remainder pursued

non-degree studies including English language programs or

Optional Practical Training related to their degree studies

(Goodman and Gutierrez 2011). The legacy of universities

and the promising programs have become the main factors

attracting international students. International students in

the United States are concentrated in a few fields. Business

and management as a field of study consistently attracts the

greatest share of international students (21 %), although

the combined fields comprising the science, technology,

engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines account for

41 % of all international students in the United States

(Goodman and Gutierrez 2011). In the United States, the

rate of growth became stagnant in 2002/2003, and the total

population of international students actually decreased by

2.4 % in 2003/2004—the largest rate decrease seen in over

three decades. The impact was felt in varying degrees from

countries sending students to study abroad and in different

types of host institutions. Specifically, STEM fields have

been affected more substantially to the drops than any other

institution.

Factors affecting international study

As the Gonzalez et al. (2011) shows, they used the deter-

minants of Erasmus student mobility to establish relevant

hypotheses. A panel data set of bilateral flows for all par-

ticipating countries has been used to test the factors influ-

encing student flows. Country size, cost of living, distance,

educational background, university quality, host country

language, and climate are all found to be significant

determinants. Various new institutions and alternative

approaches to international study have emerged to meet the

growing need for cost-effective education, and conse-

quently, many students are choosing to stay home while

also acquiring an international education (Blumenthal

2002). These new models of education include distance

learning, joint and dual degrees, branch campuses, and

sandwich programs involving short-term study abroad.

Gray (2006) termed these programs ‘‘non-traditional aca-

demic arrangements.’’ Technology, communication, access

to travel, and most importantly the globalized economy

have altered how students and educators perceive interna-

tional study. The information revolution, the global econ-

omy and capital market, environmental concerns, and

global health and safety have dramatically increased stu-

dent needs for direct experience abroad (McPherson and

Heisel 2010).

Students in other nations also often gain international

experience by pursuing full degree programs abroad.

United States higher education has benefited from and

dominated this field for some time, accepting numerous

talented international students into its degree programs,

especially at the graduate level. In the United States,

international students in recent years have come from a

relatively small number of countries, most predominantly

India (13.5 %), China (11.1 %), South Korea (10.4 %), and

Japan (6.9 %), with Taiwan (4.9 %) next on the list,

between U.S. neighbors Canada (5.0 %) and Mexico

(2.5 %) (Phelps 2010). This pattern is also changing in

Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and European

nations, which are energetically competing to lure more of

these international students to their educational institutions

(McPherson and Heisel 2010). Although studying abroad

appears bright and promising, several challenges must be

surmounted for this new area of leaning to achieve its full

potential.

Study abroad was generally for students majoring in

humanities and social sciences in the United States; how-

ever, this circumstance varies in Asian and other countries.

Agreements are scant on what should be achieved in dif-

ferent levels of integration into a foreign community:

language acquisition, appreciation of cultural differences,

and an understanding of how a discipline is structured in a

host institution. As a field for research, studying abroad

requires additional basic data. Many students pursue

learning experiences abroad outside the aegis of their

institutional office. Study abroad must be integrated more

effectively into existing institutional research efforts. We

expect that fuzzy statistics can be used to explore issues of

studying abroad at an institutional or system level.

The effect of economic recession

The global financial recession affected growth in selected

sectors, and higher education could still become a potential

casualty (World Bank 2009). Economic globalization has

transformed the role of colleges and universities in the

Asian region. Rapid expansion has been fueled by an

increased demand for higher education that has been fos-

tered by the successful popularization of basic education,

rising household expectations, government subscription to

the discourse of knowledge economics, human resource

needs, and increased availability of distance programs, and

private for-profit programs (Postiglione and Tan 2007).

How this could affect international student mobility?

Despite the general trend that student mobility flows from

economically less developed toward economically devel-

oped countries, the Kondakci study (2011) suggests that, in

the periphery, regional hubs are attracting students origi-

nating largely from other countries within the periphery.

The global economic crisis has accelerated the need for

Asian universities to engage internationally, and to create

regional mechanisms through which students and faculty

College students’ perceptions 585

123

members can move more easily from one country to

another (Postiglione 2011).

In Taiwan, students applying for a visa to study abroad

in 2011 have destinations to the United States (46.9 %),

Great Britain (10.7 %), Australia (10.7 %), Japan (9.6 %),

Canada (8.5 %), and France (2.8 %). In 2010, the total

student number of outbound students was 33,881 in Taiwan

(Ministry of Education 2011). The effects of the global

recession also ceased relatively as the cross-border

mobility of Taiwanese university graduates. The student

number of outbound study has shown a slight shrinkage in

these years. Many began to work or conduct postgraduate

studies in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and elsewhere in the

region. One study of intraregional mobility revealed that

‘‘as East Asian markets have been experiencing increasing

enrolments from other East Asian countries throughout this

decade, some traditional destinations have experienced

noticeable declines in enrolments from some major East

Asian markets or a flattening of demand’’ (JWT Education

2008). Will this trend affect the intention of Taiwanese

students? On the basis of the previous findings, this study

aims to determine what college students believe is essential

for studying abroad and to investigate what kind of pro-

gram they prefer for outbound study under current

situations.

Methods

Fuzzy statistics is a useful tool for measuring ambiguous

concepts in science and social science (Hsu and Wu 2010;

Chang 2007; Samatsu et al. 2010). Previous researchers

have claimed that use of traditional numerical models

cannot explain complex and ambiguous human and social

phenomena because of too many limitations on digital data

and over-interpretation (Nguyen and Wu 2006). Fuzzy set

concepts were proposed by Zadeh and applied to fuzzy

measurement to contend with the dynamic environment,

providing a more reasonable description of numerous data

transformations (Sun and Wu 2007; Zadeh 1968; Wang

et al. 2010). The idea of membership function allows the

studies to transform their data collection and interpretation

form crisp to interval data. If a study can apply member-

ship functions to collect the degree of participants’ feelings

based on their perceptions, then the result will more

accurately reflect their genuine thoughts. In the traditional

version of survey, the research method is commonly using

binary logic to consider a multiple-choice questionnaire.

However, empirical studies show that fuzzy statistics with

soft computing is more realistic and suitable for social

science research, and the results will more accurately

reflect participants’ genuine thoughts (Lin et al. 2010; Sun

and Wu 2007). Following the idea, this study designed a

fuzzy survey to deal with the issues of study abroad.

Research framework

The research framework is shown in Fig. 1. The target

groups include the students in college of humanities,

management, and science. The gender difference is also

considered in this study. The potential influence factors

related to study abroad are the ability to adapt, language for

the destination country, selected major, university reputa-

tion, campus environment, scholarship offer, and financial

support from the family. In this study, the different pro-

grams for selecting to study abroad are short-term stay, for

master’s degree, and for doctoral degree. The students’

perceptions of importance and readiness are transformed

using fuzzy mean, fuzzy defuzzification, and fuzzy dis-

tance to interpret the interval data.

Samples

A total of 219 validated survey samples were collected

from a national university in central Taiwan and another

Influence factors

Perceptions ofstudy abroad

Fuzzy meansDefuzzification

Fuzzy distance d(I, R)Program selection

Gender:

Female/Male

Colleges:

ManagementHumanityScience

Importance ReadinessAbility to adaptLanguage for destination countrySelected majorUniversity reputationCampus environmentScholarshipFinancial support from family

Importance ReadinessShort-term stay programFor master’s degree programFor doctoral degree program

Fig. 1 A framework of analysis

586 D.-F. Chang

123

private university in northern Taiwan in September 2011. It

represents 66 % response rate in this survey. Both of the

universities are implementing their campus policy to fulfill

the national mission for internationalization in higher

education. The target groups are junior students, and their

majors are humanities, management, and sciences. They

still have 1 more year in campus to decide their graduated

study. In this study, 108 male students and 111 female

students were in our data set. Among them, 59 students

studied at management colleges, 44 students studied at

humanities colleges, and 116 students studied at science

colleges.

Fuzzy questionnaire

In this study, participant perceptions were usually con-

sistent with ambiguous human logic; therefore, the

answers cannot simply reflect ‘‘yes’’ or ‘‘no’’ questions

using traditional numerical models (Sun and Wu 2007;

Zadeh 1968). This study used a well-designed fuzzy

questionnaire to draw data from college students on their

intention and readiness of studying abroad. The percep-

tion of study abroad includes two dimensions: the

importance of and readiness for study abroad. The

questionnaire includes the following items: gender, col-

lege major, and seven main factors related to study

abroad for the importance of and readiness for

students. Examples of completing the questionnaire are

as follows:

Direction: The following questions are related to

study abroad. We need your opinions on the impor-

tance of and readiness for study abroad. Please circle

the number representing your perception of impor-

tance and readiness. If you feel the possible impor-

tance of the English language spoken in the

destination country is 5–8 on a scale of 0–9, then

please select Numbers 5 and 8. If your selection of

readiness for using English in the destination country

is from 5 to 7, it means your possibility of readiness

for the English language is 5 to 7 on a scale of 0–9.

Example 2 refers to your perceptions of study abroad

for a master’s program on the importance and

readiness.

Example 1 Your perceptions of language in the destina-

tion country

Example 2 Your perceptions of ‘‘for master’s degree’’

Importance of study abroad Readiness for study abroad

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Fuzzy statistics

This study applied fuzzy means, defuzzification for a fuzzy

number on Rs, and distance between samples of interval-

valued data to transform our fuzzy data. The definitions

and their calculations are listed as follows:

Definition 1 Fuzzy sample mean (data with interval

values) (Nguyen and Wu 2006):

Let U be the universal set and fFxi ¼ ½ai; bi�; ai; bi 2R; i ¼ 1; . . .; ng be a sequence of random fuzzy samples on

U. The fuzzy sample mean value is then defined as

F�x ¼ 1

n

Xn

i¼1

ai;1

n

Xn

i¼1

bi

" #

Definition 2 Defuzzification for a fuzzy number on R

(Nguyen and Wu 2006):

Let v = [a, b] (a = b) (be an interval fuzzy number on

U). The defuzzification number Rv of [a, b] is then defined

as

Rx ¼aþ b

2þ 1� lnð1þ b� aj jÞ

b� aj j

� �

Definition 3 Distance between samples of interval-

valued data:

Let U be the universe of discourse. Let {vi = (a, b, c),

i = 1, 2, 3} be three samples from U, with the center

Ci ¼ aiþbiþci

3, hi = 1, and area Ai =

ci�aið Þ�hi

2(see Fig. 2).

The distance between the triangle samples v1 and v2 is

defined as v1 ? [C1, A1], and v2 ? [C2, A2]. Therefore,

d v1; v2

� �¼ Ci � Cj

�� ��þ lnð1þ Aij jÞAij j

�lnð1þ Aj

�� ��ÞjAjj

����

����

Analytical methods

Using fuzzy statistics, this study analyzed the importance

of and readiness for studying abroad. This study considered

gender and college major to compare student perceptions

of importance of and readiness for studying abroad using

fuzzy means, defuzzification, and fuzzy distance. The

program selections for studying abroad are also examined

by fuzzy means, defuzzification, and fuzzy distance.

Importance of study abroad Readiness for study abroad

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

College students’ perceptions 587

123

Example 1 The fuzzy means: Let x1 = [3, 5], x2 = [2, 4],

x3 = [3, 4], x4 = [4, 8], and x5 = [2, 5] be the perception

of importance of language for destination country by 5

students with fuzzy interval. Thus, the fuzzy sample mean

for the perception is as follows:

F�x ¼ 3þ 2þ 3þ 4þ 2

5;5þ 4þ 4þ 8þ 5

5

� �¼ ½2:8; 5:2�

Example 2 Defuzzification for a fuzzy number on R is

derived from interval fuzzy numbers. This study calculated

Rs to evaluate their ranking for different factors related to

study abroad. Let v = [2, 5] Then, Rv = 2þ52þ

1� lnð1þ 5�2j jÞ5�2j j

¼ 4:04

Example 3 How to calculate the fuzzy distance of impor-

tance and readiness? Let two sets of interval data be v1 =

[1, 3, 5] and v2 = [4, 6, 7]. Then, v1 = [(1 ? 3 ? 5)/3, (5 -

1)/2] = [3; 2], v2 = [(4 ? 6 ? 7)/3, (7 - 4)/2] = [5.7; 1.5)]

d v1; v2

� �¼ 3� 5:7j j þ lnð1þ 2Þ

2� lnð1þ 1:5Þ

1:5

����

���� ¼ 2:64

The d (v1, v2) is used to compare the different factors of

their importance of and readiness for studying abroad

among these college students. This study interpreted the

formula as d (I, R) to follow our research purposes.

Results

The results show that the importance of and their readiness for

the selected items are different for perception by gender and

college differences. Their distances of importance of and

readiness for study abroad are listed in the following subsection.

The patterns of study abroad are shown in the final section.

Importance of and readiness for study abroad

The importance of studying abroad is transformed

according to Definition 1, in which the fuzzy means

manages using interval values (Nguyen and Wu 2006).

Defuzzification number Rs are calculated following Defi-

nition 2. Table 1 shows that the most important factor is

the ability to adapt, followed by language in the destination

country, and selected major (listed third) for study abroad.

Perhaps, college students perceive that scholarship is

highly limited and that many families can provide financial

support (listed as a less critical factor). By transforming the

fuzzy means and defuzzification number Rs, the readiness

for study abroad as reported by the students is as follows:

ability to adapt, selected major, language for destination

country, scholarship, and financial support from family.

Gender and major differences for study abroad

Table 2 shows that women are more concerned with

selected factors related to study abroad than their male

counterparts. No significant difference exists among dif-

ferent college students when they express their concerns on

the language in the destination country, selected major,

university reputation, or campus environment. Since the

defuzzification, Rs in these items are above five in the

fuzzy scale. Students at science colleges show less concern

with financial support from families; however, students at

Table 1 Importance of and readiness for selected factors related to

study abroad with fuzzy means, fuzzy defuzzification, and their

ranking

Fuzzy means Defuzzification

number RsRanking

Importance

Ability to adapt [3.45, 7.41] 5.281 1

Language for

destination

country

[3.54, 7.31] 5.276 2

Selected major [3.40, 7.26] 5.183 3

University

reputation

[3.47, 7.16] 5.165 4

Campus

environment

[3.37, 7.20] 5.138 5

Scholarship [3.41, 7.06] 5.088 6

Financial support

from family

[3.00, 6.54] 4.624 7

Readiness

Ability to adapt [2.14, 5.30] 3.582 1

Selected major [2.14, 5.26] 3.568 2

Language for

destination

country

[2.18, 4.84] 3.340 3

Scholarship [1.95, 4.67] 3.193 4

Financial support

from family

[1.91, 4.61] 3.144 5

Mem

bers

hip

func

tion

Fig. 2 Triangular fuzzy numbers

588 D.-F. Chang

123

management colleges express less concern with scholarship

for studying abroad. The students at humanities colleges

show more concern with the ability to adapt to their future

study abroad. The defuzzification number Rs of readiness

of selected factors for studying abroad are considered the

gender and college differences in this study. As listed in

Table 2, the result revealed that women typically exhibit

more preparedness for study abroad than their male coun-

terparts. Students at science colleges show less prepared-

ness for studying abroad than those of the other two types

of colleges.

Consistency of importance and readiness

This study used Definition 3 to calculate the distance of

consistency for student perceptions of importance and their

readiness, converted from interval fuzzy data. The seven

selected factors are related to study abroad, including

language for destination country, selected major, financial

support from family, scholarship, ability to adapt, univer-

sity reputation, and campus environment. The results

revealed that scholarship (1.864) has the biggest gap

between importance and readiness. Following the larger

distances are language ability for destination country

(1.840), campus environment (1.811), university reputation

(1.704), ability to adapt (1.669), selected major (1.589),

and financial support from family (1.454) (see Table 3).

The result shows that the students concern the scholarship,

but they are not qualified yet to get it. The result also shows

that language ability for destination country is highly

critical for studying abroad, but that the college students

are not yet ready.

Short-term stay or for degrees

We asked the students if they have opportunities to travel

abroad for further study, which programs would attract

them. Table 4 shows that students preferred short-term stay

programs (4.780), then master’s degree programs (4.475),

and doctoral degree programs (4.290). Comparing the

importance of programs with their readiness, most college

students disclosed that they are not yet ready for studying

abroad. Analysis of the distances of perception for the

importance of and readiness for studying abroad shows

1.579 for short-term stay programs, 1.438 for the master’s

degree programs, and 1.435 for doctoral degree programs.

Table 2 Defuzzification Rs of the importance of and readiness for selected factors for studying abroad by gender and colleges

Language Major Finance Scholarship Adaption Reputation Campus

Importance

Gender

Male 5.124 4.978 4.324 4.922 5.129 4.943 5.020

Female 5.423 5.382 4.918 5.250 5.430 5.382 5.252

Colleges

Management 5.465 5.225 5.109 4.752 5.268 5.152 5.080

Humanities 5.432 5.176 5.468 5.456 5.859 5.310 5.329

Science 5.152 5.164 3.991 5.146 5.093 5.130 5.103

Readiness

Gender

Male 2.920 3.15 2.666 2.740 3.137 2.924 2.954

Female 3.876 3.974 3.611 3.635 4.016 3.928 3.639

Colleges

Management 4.135 4.095 3.741 3.353 3.986 3.950 3.657

Humanities 4.271 4.199 3.921 3.879 4.660 4.071 4.105

Science 2.715 3.084 2.461 2.839 2.920 2.888 2.806

Table 3 Fuzzy distances and indices of gap in selected factors

related to study abroad

Selected factors related

to study abroad

Importance Readiness d (I, R)

Scholarship [3.41, 7.06] [1.95, 4.67] 1.864

Language for destination

country

[3.54, 7.31] [2.18, 4.84] 1.840

Campus environment [3.37, 7.20] [2.14, 5.26] 1.811

University reputation [3.47, 7.16] [2.18, 4.84] 1.704

Ability to adapt [3.45, 7.41] [2.14, 5.30] 1.669

Major selected [3.40, 7.26] [2.14, 5.26] 1.589

Financial support

from family

[3.00, 6.54] [1.91, 4.61] 1.454

College students’ perceptions 589

123

Discussion and conclusion

Related literature has shown that an increasing number of

students have realized that study abroad will enhance their

career options when they enter a marketplace requiring

knowledge and skills beyond those taught at home. Various

previous studies have discussed the new developments in

the field of mobility such as branch campuses and the

growing popularity of virtual learning. The results of the

current study reveal that studying abroad is a better choice

for many college students; however, they prefer short-term

stay programs for non-degree purposes because many

students select their degrees at domestic universities for

further career preparation. Currently, the pattern of study-

ing abroad for degrees has dramatically changed in Taiwan

because the number of students for studying abroad has

declined from 37,171 (2006) to 33,881 (2010) (National

Academy for Educational Research Taiwan, ROC 2010).

Preparedness for studying abroad generally involves

numerous different meanings. However, agreements are

scant on what should be achieved for different levels of

integration into a foreign community. Such debated factors

are language acquisition, appreciation of cultural differ-

ences, and understanding how a discipline is structured in a

host institution. In this study, we determined that the most

critical factor is the ability to adapt, followed by the lan-

guage of the destination country, and the selected major

(listed third). Perhaps, college students in Taiwan have

perceived scholarships to be highly limited and that many

families can provide financial support (listed as a less

critical factor). The findings may provide some thinking of

related policy in Taiwan.

In this case, more specifically, the study reveals that

women are more concerned with specific factors related to

study abroad than their male counterparts. Generally, the

women have shown greater preparedness for studying

abroad than the men. Students at science colleges show less

concern with financial support from families; conversely,

students at management colleges express less concern with

the scholarship for study abroad. Only students at human-

ities colleges show more concern for the ability to adapt to

their future study abroad. The overall findings, although

limited, provide a useful premise to stimulate further

research examining the complexity of issues surrounding

college student experiences based on global and local

contexts.

As noted in the review of literature, most studies

examining the international student experience focus on

students traveling to popular countries such as the United

States, Australia, or the EU. Therefore, this study provides

a unique context and offers insight for Taiwan institutions

striving to enhance the international learning experiences

and their effect. In addition, previous researchers claimed

that use of traditional numerical models cannot explain

complex and ambiguous human and social phenomena.

Various studies have argued that fuzzy statistics is a useful

tool for measuring ambiguous concepts or issues in dif-

ferent fields. In this study, the fuzzy statistics may provide

an example to tackle the issue of studying abroad.

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