Balancing the Benefits and Drawbacks of Studying Abroad - Essay Example

Draft: Benefits and drawbacks of studying abroad is a much debated issue. Studying abroad provides better exposure to the diversified culture and environment as well as imparts a sense of self-reliance in the student. Again it also erodes of the concerned person of his own culture. While the benefits highlight a queue of facts such as better technological and scientific method of education, cross-cultural exchanges, better job opportunities along with so many others; the drawbacks also highlights discrimination against foreign student, food and cultural disparity lack of social network etc. at this background the concerned case possess a dilemma and demystifying the same might be considered as a noble onus of a researcher. Is it possible to balance the two? So the benefits can be absorbed while the costs can be minimized. The answer would not come in a few sentence and deserves a thorough consideration of the situation such as cost to the host country and the students coming from abroad, how to make them feel that they have the same right as any indigenous students. An effort towards building their social network together with culture and food is also necessary. The benefits and drawbacks of studying abroad It would not be an exaggeration to refer to the current era as the era of globalization. Back at one point of time cross border mobilization of labor and capital was almost impossible. But over the past three decades this has become usual and in the new millennia factor mobilization and knowledge sharing is an everyday phenomenon. Critics might have many opposing views of the same but in near future there is no stopping of such exchange and this seems to be perfectly in tune with globalization and free trade. Amid unprecedented level of commoditization education has become a commodity and a costly one to provide. Furthermore quality of education is of utmost importance and different countries have their different standards of education. The developed countries along with some developed nations are flag bearers in this regard. Qualifying and get an opportunity for higher studies in a developed nation has become almost an unavoidable necessity, though till now only a few can avail such technologically advanced and much holistic educational package. Scholars are divided considering the benefits and costs associated with educating abroad and there are significant ambiguities and differences of opinion among them that which force overcomes the other. At this background the present paper leads a critical evaluation of educating abroad encompassing both the positive and negative aspects of studying abroad. Before proceeding further it is worth mentioning that the student influx in developed countries is mainly from developing and less developed countries that are not particularly renowned for their educational qualities and often lion’s share of the mass is kept beyond the domain of higher education, simply because of impoverished condition, lack of facilities together with depleting standards. The benefits of studying abroad The benefits of studying abroad are multifaceted, however before going into detailed consideration of the same; in a nutshell better and advanced study material, scientific way of teaching by the some of the eminent teachers of the respective discipline, better exposure, high value of the degree thus obtained both in corporate and in academics in indigenous country as well as the country of studying and better exposure to different cultures that makes a student much more receptive, adaptive and enlightened (Study Abroad). The prevalence of push factors and pull factors leading to studying abroad is also tantalizing (Altbach, 156). In most of the developed countries the study materials consider a wide variation and are far more real world oriented. Besides theory they also emphasizes on the applicability of those theories through the case studies and assignments that compels the students to come outside their bookish knowledge and prove what they have absorbed in their sole. Competing with students belonging to different cultural background on one hand provides a high exposure to different cultures and on the other turns them into more competitive. It should also be noted that cultural interaction usually enriches both the cultures and wipe away many falls ideas and reservations of a person belonging to a certain culture towards another culture. This becomes particularly important if later on the person gets an employment outside his home country. The much broader exposure to the human genome inevitable incorporates diversity within a human being studying abroad and that in short or long run whether he is in home or foreign country helps him to mingle with ease to the local culture (Study Abroad). Getting a par time employment to finance his studies and livelihood is another important aspect of studying abroad. Countries like USA and many others provides par time employment opportunities to the foreign students and this becomes a pivotal factor for subsistence even if the person is without any scholarship (Study Abroad). Intercultural exchange among diversifies student commune helps all to have a better understanding of the cultureof many country at a ease and this adds to the aesthetic benefit to all the students (Study Abroad). It is not an overstatement that to promote global harmony and peace existence of such multicultural student commune might be extremely necessary in this era of terrorism and anarchy. However, all that glitters is not gold. With the benefits also come some costs associated with studying abroad as Altbach explains “it seems essential to know the real costs and benefits associated with the foreign students” (Altbach, 155). This cost if seen from an economic point of view comprises of two components. A cost of subsidising the foreign students by the home country and a cost that has to be incurred by the home students to study in the foreign countries. Again this is not all many others cost components might be associated with this and they would be explained subsequently. Drawbacks of studying abroad Food, social networks and language are the three drawbacks that are often extended against studying abroad. It is likely that food culture and cuisine in a country would be different than other countries and that can at times pose real problem. A Japanese coming to USA for higher study might get it difficult sushi that matches his taste and an American visiting Japan for the same might find Sushi not of his taste (Byram and Fang, 41-52). Human beings are social animal and they cannot live without a society. Courting this situation, a foreign student might face difficulties to be a part of the indigenous students or might be intentionally left beyond the common circle. At time he might also become subject to bullying. This initiates a certain sort of frustration and depression that might even engulf the person and hinder his proper psychological development (Byram and Fang, 2006, pp.41-52). A person is mostly comfortable in his mother tongue. Often a person might be capable of writing certain language with flare but might not be that good in its spoken form. Since verbal language is the most common form of conversation and interaction, hence such problem makes things worse. The student might soon starts to feel being left off the class or lagging than his peers. This happens particularly at the initial stage of settlement in a foreign environment (Byram and Fang, 41-52). Conclusion: As illustrated in the paper studying abroad is full of benefits and costs and the success lies in balancing them properly. All most all the countries in the world are experiencing pressure of inflation and subsidising foreign students might not be possible till eternity. They have to find their own means to finance their studies. Adjustments are the sole word of survival, food, social network are petty issues while weighed against quality education. So they have to be adaptive and receptive. However, this by no way demean the role of the fellow indigenous students and the government to stop discriminatory actions as well as bullying the foreign students who have left their motherland only to experience international quality education without hampering the peace of the domestic people. References: Altbach, Philip , Comparative Higher Education, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998, Print. Byram, Michael and Anwei Feng, Living and Studying Abroad, Multilingual Matters, 2006 Study Abroad, Top Universities, February 19 2014 from: http://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/studying-abroad/studying-abroad-benefits Read More