For everyone, studying abroad may be a life-changing experience. The impacts and benefits it will afford to your education and profession ranges from expanding your worldwide network to experiencing a new culture.
Given this, it’s no surprise that the number of students pursuing higher education outside of their native nation has more than quadrupled in the last 25 years. Currently, there are over 50,000 Nigerian students studying abroad than in the preceding decade. Furthermore, the student profile of those who study abroad is changing, with an increase in the proportion of graduate-level students choosing to study abroad.
When you talk about studying abroad, you’re taking concepts from the classroom and watching them as it plays out in real-time, in real life.
Can You Study Abroad in Graduate School?
If you did not have the option to study abroad as an undergraduate, you may be concerned that you have passed up an opportunity.
Fortunately, several graduate schools allow students to study abroad throughout their studies. Indeed, the number of graduate-level studies abroad students is increasing: according to statistics, more than 12% of students who studied abroad during the 2017-2018 academic year were enrolled in a graduate program.
Not only are students eligible to study abroad in graduate school, but doing so can have significant educational and professional benefits. The benefits of studying abroad at any point of your education, but notably at the graduate level, are discussed here.
Advantages of Studying Abroad
Studying abroad is now more crucial than ever in an increasingly globalized society. Here are some vital reasons why studying abroad might help your education and career.
- Help Improve your Linguistic Abilities.
Your language abilities will greatly improve by studying overseas. While learning a language in class is enjoyable, implementing it in real life is a totally other experience. Because you practice the language on a daily basis, you will most likely learn it faster. You’ll also be able to pick up a conversational language that you wouldn’t have learned in class, allowing you to talk like a native.
By improving your language abilities, it will help you to advance in your work. Fluency in a second language is sometimes advantageous (if not needed) while working for international or worldwide enterprises. If you want to work in international business or global health, for example, having good foreign language abilities and experience demonstrating such talents might make your resumé stand out to recruiters.
Many jobs in international relations and diplomacy need fluency in a foreign language. Although there are no specific language requirements for becoming a foreign service officer, proficiency and experience with a foreign language is however an important component of a candidate’s competitiveness during the selection process for positions as a diplomat, ambassador, or other positions with the United Nations.
- Experience A Different Teaching Method.
Each country has its own teaching approach. Studying abroad will surely help you to broaden your horizons academically and acquire the ability to adapt to different educational environments.
Adapting to different techniques of teaching will also help you adjust to different management styles, making you more versatile. You may encounter the following teaching techniques when studying abroad:
i. Authority Style: A teacher-centered style in which the authority figure is a professor who frequently provides extended lectures or one-way presentations. Set standards and expectations are stressed, and students often take notes to remember information.
ii. Facilitator Style: By stressing the teacher-student interaction, professors encourage self-learning. They teach students how to ask questions and solve problems via exploration, which helps them build critical thinking abilities.
iii. Delegator Style: To keep students involved, professors assign lab assignments and offer students in-class projects. It is a guided and controlled learning technique in which the lecturer serves as an observer while students remain active participants in their own learning exercises.
- Astound Potential Employers.
Studying abroad can help launch your career and make you more marketable. It allows you to demonstrate to potential and present employers that you have the open mind, ingenuity, and ambition required to adjust to a new situation.
Many businesses prefer graduates with foreign experience. According to a recent poll, 64% of employers value study abroad experience, and 92% seek transferrable qualities that are often obtained from the experience, such as adaptability to new difficulties.
It is a known fact that students who study abroad contribute more to the workplace than students who did not. They provide a more complete product than simply looking at how things work theoretically, as opposed to students who have the opportunity to apply the principles in their studies to real jobs and experiences across other cultures.
According to another poll, roughly 40% of organizations missed out on foreign business possibilities owing to a lack of international-experienced people. Studying abroad might be a great way to demonstrate to companies that you have the abilities they need to fulfill their business objectives.
- Extend Your Network.
Studying abroad allows you to build vital bonds and connections with people from all around the world. You increase your global network and relationships while meeting folks who may end up becoming your lifelong pals. Some of the relationships you will develop may even lead to business partnerships, employment possibilities, and internships.
The institution where you study will frequently have a wide population of students from local regions and overseas, allowing you to meet individuals from many origins and cultures. The bigger your network is, the more likely you will be introduced to social possibilities or job opportunities.
- Gain Knowledge Of Different Cultures And Ideas.
Your exposure to a foreign culture will allow you to broaden your worldview. You will gain cross-cultural awareness and learn about various viewpoints when you study overseas. In your future career, for example, you may be required to collaborate with people from different nations. By studying abroad, you will get more comfortable with individuals from all backgrounds, respect their unique experiences, and build better bonds with them.
It’s been established that a person’s cultural background frequently has a huge influence on how they react to circumstances. Having a diversity of perspectives may help you see things in a whole new light. Studying overseas will allow you to encounter people from other backgrounds, which will help you broaden your thinking and extend your horizons.
Furthermore, the greatest approach to learning about another culture is to immerse yourself in it, and the best way to do so is to live in another country.
- Increase Your Self-Confidence.
By immersing yourself in another culture, you get vital life skills that are needed for personal development, such as flexibility and independence. These life skills will surely increase your self-confidence in both your professional and personal life.
Studying abroad may be overwhelming, but the difficulties you face will definitely help you grow as a person. You will find out that you can flourish in new, unexpected situations, and you’ll increase your communication skills by learning to speak a new language, which will in turn help you boost your self-confidence even more.
Studying abroad is a fantastic chance to build on cultural abilities such as learning how to adjust to different settings, enduring uncertainty, and cultural sensitivity. These abilities are necessary for practically any career.
Adjusting quickly to your new place of abode will strengthen your resilience and self-reliance. Your daily life may help you become a more capable person, from little duties like going to the doctor to major ones like learning how to bargain with a professor or adjust to another culture’s management techniques.
Studying abroad can also help you acquire confidence by honing specific interpersonal skills, such as:
i. Leadership: In practically any context, strong leadership and team management abilities are required. Knowing how to lead and encourage those around you may help you build deeper relationships, whether you’re working on a group project with foreign students or doing an internship overseas.
ii. Communication Skills: Effective communication requires strong writing, public speaking, and bargaining skills, especially in an unfamiliar context like a foreign nation.
iii. Cross-Cultural Awareness: Our perspectives and behaviors are influenced by our experiences, beliefs, and cultural origins. Studying abroad teaches you to be tolerant of other people’s perspectives. Remember that what is acceptable in one culture may be unacceptable in another.
- Travel Throughout The World.
One of the benefits of studying abroad is the ability to explore the globe and see places you would not have otherwise visited. You could go sightseeing during your free time when you have no schoolwork. You’ll also get to know your new place better than if you were only there for a short time.
Because you are not bound to one location when studying abroad, you can explore nearby areas and nations. For example, if you are studying in Florence, you may tour the Tuscan countryside, or take the train to Rome.
Your newfound friends can also show you places that a tourist would not see otherwise.
- Discover International Job Options.
Depending on the course you are studying, studying in a different nation opens up new prospects that go beyond jobs. If you are interested in finance, for example, consider studying in a business-friendly city like London or Hong Kong. If you are interested in tech, think of going to Berlin or Tel Aviv.
Many organizations looking for foreign personnel regularly want to see proof that candidates can flourish in a global context. Studying abroad, especially in a region where you are seeking to find employment, allows you to highlight relevant experience and crucial talents on your resumé, such as a grasp of international policy and cross-cultural communication.