Beyond an Adventure: The Transformation of Study Abroad Marketing in the 21st Century

Kellie S. Wilkerson

Advisor: James Witte, PhD, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Committee Members: Manjusha Nair, Blake Silver

Online Location, Zoom
May 14, 2025, 01:00 PM to 02:30 PM

Abstract:

Study abroad is often critiqued as a highly commodified, privatized, and commercialized consequence of globalization and the neoliberal university (Kamola 2019). This study seeks to identify the categories of language around study abroad programming and how these narratives change over time and between different types of institutions. This dissertation project relies on a mixed methodological approach, using web-scraping tools to collect data and qualitative content analysis to identify the predominant discourse in study abroad advertising. This project then uses logistic regression models to identify which institutional characteristics impact such narrative formation. The findings are analyzed through a neoliberal interpretation (Harvey 2005, 2007) on the phases of marketing around study abroad programming. These phases include naming practices in the institutional home of the study abroad office, buzz words, promoted types of study abroad programming and advertised reasons for participation. Bivariate analysis and regression models show a transition in popular discourse within the naming practice of the study abroad programming, an increasing conversation around global citizenship and a globally centered narrative, contrasting the predominance of dialogues emphasizing internationalistic frameworks in earlier years.

Please join us on Zoom: https://to.gmu.edu/WilkersonDefense