ERIC Number: EJ1128147
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1523-1615
EISSN: N/A
International Scholarship Graduates Influencing Social and Economic Development at Home: The Role of Alumni Networks in Georgia and Moldova
Campbell, Anne C.
Current Issues in Comparative Education, v19 n1 p76-91 Fall 2016
Many students from low- and middle-income countries seek scholarship support to pursue higher education overseas. Often scholarship programs mandate that recipients "give back" to their home countries following their studies so scholars "apply" their experiences to aid their countries of origin. In this comparative qualitative study, 40 Georgian and Moldovan scholarship alumni who studied in the United States were asked how alumni networks assist their ability to influence social and economic change in their home countries. The comparative findings point to the value of alumni networks in terms of graduates backing each other's activism projects and feeling part of a community of like-minded individuals who seek change. Where these networks were not present, alumni desired a supportive association to assist in their attempts to influence reform. Findings suggest the development of alumni networks facilitate individual scholarship participants' efforts to "give back" to their countries of origin.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Foreign Students, Scholarship, College Graduates, Social Development, Economic Development, Comparative Analysis, Qualitative Research, Alumni, Networks, Activism, Semi Structured Interviews, Phenomenology
Teachers College, Columbia University. International and Transcultural Studies, P.O. Box 211, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. e-mail: info@cicejournal.org; Web site: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/cice
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: US Department of State
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Moldova; Georgia Republic
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A