Study Abroad Experience: Personal and Professional Aftereffects of Professors from a Public Costa Rican University

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine some frequent personal and professional aftereffects that professors might encounter after a study-abroad experience. The study took place in a public Costa Rican university. The participants were seven English professors who answered a questionnaire, a survey, and an interview. The findings disclose the most common aftereffects that were experienced by the professors after their sojourn. In brief, these common aftereffects were the gain of independence, the competency to contribute to the native country, the feeling of rejection towards Costa Rica’s bureaucracy, and the feeling that co-workers feel threatened.