Relevance of US Education to Former Students from Taiwan: An Exploratory Investigation.

1. CIES Conference – Baltimore, MD. Feb. 28, 2007 Relevance of US Education to Former Students from Taiwan: An Exploratory Investigation. Su-Chin Hsieh, Ph.D. Candidate; Francis Musa Boakari, Professor University of theIncarnate Word San Antonio, TX.

2. Purpose of the study Investigate the relevance/advantages derived from US higher education, based on the opinions of some former international students who graduated from U.S. universities, and now living at home in Taiwan. The significance of the study could be to help future students from Taiwan decide whether a US university degree would meet their professional goals and expectations.

3. Research Questions • What were the major advantages derived from obtaining a US university education? • What were the effects of some demographic variables on the participants’ responses to the question above?

4. The Research Literature Review Descriptive/ Inferential Analysis Quantitative Results Taiwanese Sample

5. The Perceived Advantages of Study in the U.S. Kirkpatrick-Munchus (Ainsworth, 1995) Boakari (1981), Jenkins (1980) • Exposure to creative criticism & academic freedom • Enriching personal experience • Mutual understanding • William (1979) • Research and technology skills • Field-level implementation • Cadronovsky (1973) • Knowledge of philosophy and practice • Ability to apply knowledge in working • Understanding American life-style • Interest in international understanding • Developing professional competence • Influence work-style • Liberty of expression • “Kirkpatrick’s • 4 Dimensions” • Knowledge gain • Application • Career Satisfaction • Behavior Change Cultural awareness Communication skills (Researcher-constructed)

6. Demographic Variables 83 Taiwanese students who graduated from the U.S. were surveyed using convenient sampling • Gender: Female = 41%, Male = 59% • Degree Obtained: Bachelor’s=2.4%; Master’s=63.9%; Doctoral=33.7% • Academic field: Social Sciences = 80.7%; Natural Sciences = 19.3% • Job sector: Government = 19.3%; Private = 80.7% • Work experience before studying in the U.S.: No = 27.7%; Yes = 73.3% • Period of study in the U.S. before1993=24.1%; 1994-2000=22.9%; after2000-53%

7. Questionnaire Design Question: After you graduated from the U.S. and returned to Taiwan, how has your US higher education influenced you in the area of … [professional, social, cultural, economic and political performance] Measured by: • Categorical scale: Likert-type with 7 points • Influence Index: Mean = ∑Xi/n Xi: the degree of influence is an integral value n = sample size

8. Results: Six Perceived Advantages Six Advantages (ranked ordered by degree of influence) : • Knowledge gain • Behavior change • Communication skills • Application • Cultural awareness • Career satisfaction Coefficient of internal consistency: Cronbach's Alpha = .732

9. 1. Knowledge Gain Question: After you graduated from the U.S. and returned to Taiwan, how has your US higher education influenced your… • academic knowledge? • problem-solving skills? • self-learning ability? Results: Mean = 2.157 (most important of the advantages ) Std. = 0.64 (least important advantage)

10. 1. Knowledge Gain (Cont.) There are significant differences between the degree types. (ANOVA, p=.006) There is a significant difference between gender. Males think they gained more knowledge than the females. (t-test, p = .039)

11. 1. Knowledge Gain (Cont.) (ANOVA, p= .003 ) The longer work experience respondents had before studying in the U.S., the more knowledge they think they gained.

12. 2. Behavior Change Question: How has your US education influenced you in ... • seeing things from different viewpoints? • accomplishing assignments independently? • cooperating with others? • trying out new methods? Results: • Mean = 1.934, Std. = 0.802 • There is no significant difference based upon the demographic variables.

13. 3. Communication Skills Question: How has your US education influenced you in your ... • English proficiency? • ability to express what you think? • communication with others? Results: Mean = 1.916, Std. = 0.693

14. 3. Communication Skills (Cont.) (t-test, p=.003) Those who had work experience before studying in the U.S. thought they gained more in language proficiency. (ANOVA, p = .008 ) The higher the degree level, the more language advantage they indicated to have.

15. 4. Application Question: How has your US education influenced you in ... • applying what you learned? • your professional knowledge? • your ability to multi-task? Results: Mean = 1.791, Std. = 0.825

16. 4. Application (Cont.) • Those who had work experience before studying in the U.S., thought they applied their knowledge to their careers more. (t-test, p = .007) • Natural Science graduates thought they applied their knowledge to their careers more than Social Science graduates. (t-test, p = .002) • The higher the degree, the more application advantage they have. (ANOVA, p = .012 )

17. 5. Cultural Awareness Question: How has your US education influenced you in the area of ... • treating people with honesty? • respecting different values? • being interested in different cultures? Results: • Mean = 1.775, Std. = 0.946 • There is no significant difference based upon the demographic variables.

18. 6. Career Satisfaction Question: How has your US education influenced ... • Transition in your occupation? • Change in your yearly salary? • Change in your work level? • Your significance in the workplace? • Your personal feelings of accomplishment? Results • Mean = 1.6, Std. = 0.893

19. 6. Career Satisfaction (Contd.) (ANOVA, p = .02) The more recent to have studied, the more career satisfaction.

20. Table1: t-test / ANOVA

21. Limitations of the study 1. The sample of this study was limited to Taiwanese students. 2. The participants were selected through convenience sampling. 3. Participants might have been deceptive in answering the self-reported questionnaire. 4. Difficulties in “correctly translating ideas between US English and Taiwanese Mandarin,” could have affected appropriate understanding of some/all questions.

22. Recommendation • Increase and amplify sample size • Modify the questionnaire further, increasing questions for the dimensions • Study relevant issues such as those related to age, marital status, with or without family in US and globalization. • Compare the relevance of different education systems to international students • Determine general societal contributions a student can make upon returning to Taiwan/home country after graduation abroad?

23. R E F E R E N C E S • Ainsworth, M. & Morley, C. (1995). The value of management education: views of graduates on the benefits of doing a MBA. Higher Education, 30 (2): 175-187. • Boakari, F. M. (1981). Relevance of a U.S. education to the third world: challenges and satisfactions on returning home. NAFSA Newsletter, November:17-24. • Carnovsky L. (1973). The foreign student in the American library school. The Library Quarterly, 43: 103-125. • Henderson J. L. (1990). Follow-up of International Graduate Students in Agricultural Education at the Ohio State University. Journal of Agricultural Education, Spring:71-74. • Jenkins, H. M. (1980). Relevance of U.S. education to students from developing countries: a report on the fourth AID/NAFSA workshop. • Lulat, Y. G. & Cordaro, J. (1984). International Students and Study- Abroad Programs: A Select Bibliography. Comparative Education Review, 28 (2): 300-339.