Relational Cultural Theory: A Guiding Framework for Study Abroad Experiences

Abstract

Faculty-led study-abroad programs promote cultural competence and professional and personal development for students. However, students from historically marginalized and underrepresented groups do not participate in these experiences at the same rate as students from majority cultures. Counselor educators must seek ways to recruit diverse populations to promote equity in and access to international education experiences. Relational cultural theory provides a guiding framework for counselor educators to diversify study-abroad programs while attending to cultural and power dynamics. Implications for counselor educators and recommendations for future research are also included.

Development of a U.S.-Scottish Immersion Experience and Its Influence on Participants, Partners, and Programs: An International Case Study

“…However, RCT has now been applied across other contexts, including education (Jordan, 2018) and study-abroad programs (Harris et al, 2019), due to its fundamental concern with 'growth-fostering' relationships, and in turn social justice (Jordan, 2018). RCT is particularly critical of the human disconnections that are created through the systems of marginalization and oppression that lead to the othering, and further isolation, of people who do not 'fit' (Jordan, 2018).…”