Introduction: Special Issue on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Education Abroad

Abstract

In late 2018, our editorial team set out on a multi-component project to provide a historical reference of established scholarship from Frontiers on diversity, equity, and inclusion in education abroad and to and solicit and present a set of new works in this Special Issue on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of Frontiers. 
 We began by creating a special “virtual” issue of existing Frontiers articles centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion which accompanied our call for papers for this Special Issue on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In our introduction to the virtual issue we highlighted three gaps in past scholarship on these topics. We noted (a) limited focus on equity and success, (b) a dramatically changed student demographic, and (c) a need for critical examination of education abroad practice in order to make significant strides toward equity. In our process with this virtual issue we were pleased to see many new initiatives from masters’ and doctoral students and from those we corresponded with during this process. 
 With this January 2020 Special Issue we endeavored to push beyond discussions of access and representation in the field, to critically examine inclusion throughout the education abroad process, and to consider equity in outcomes. We hope that the articles we are presenting as the culmination of our work in this Special Issue on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Frontiers will move theory, practice, and scholarship forward.

Introduction: Special Issue on Listening to and Learning from Partners and Host Communities: Amplifying Marginalized Voices in Global Learning

“…Education abroad has made progress in being much more critical of and reflective about how students learn, who has access to study abroad, curricular integration, how intervention happens with students before, during, and after an education abroad experience, support for traditionally underrepresented students in education abroad, the commodification of higher/international education and decolonizing education abroad (Adkins & Messerly, 2019;Brewer & Ogden, 2019;Contreras et al, 2020;Hartman et al, 2020;4 Vande Berg et al, 2009;Zemach-Bersin, 2012) as well as challenging and redefining the concept of global citizenship (Andreotti & de Souza, 2012;Lewin, 2009;Hartman et al, 2018;Zemach-Bersin, 2009). These critically-informed reforms underway point toward a more profound reorientation.…”

Foreign-Born Student Affairs Professionals’ Impacts and Experiences: The Missing Piece of Internationalization

“…Mobility both inbound and outbound is a limited form of internationalization because of its lack of accessibility and inclusion. The percentage of mobile students remains as low as 11 in Canada and 16 in the United States ("Canada's International Education Strategy (2019-2024," n.d.) Among the mobile students, male students, racial and ethnic minorities, students with lower socioeconomic status, and students studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are underrepresented (Contreras, López-McGee, Wick, & Willis, 2020). Moreover, international exchange experience by itself does not guarantee meaningful intercultural interaction and learning (Gregersen-Hermans, 2015).…”