BEVIによるショート・ビジット型留学プログラムの効果分析 : 「グローバル人材」は育成できるのか？

Universities in Japan have been offering their students study abroad programs of all durations, often with the (explicit or implicit) purpose of developing so-called “global human resources” equipped with an international perspective, greater foreign language proficiency and leadership, and intercultural understanding. Recently, there has been an increasing number of Japanese universities that provide study abroad programs for a short duration (as little as one week) with a similar purpose. Despite this trend, there are some questions that remain to be answered, namely, (i) how can we measure in a reliable and valid way the outcomes related to “global human resources” (especially, non-language qualities such as intercultural understanding)?; and (ii) can we really expect our students to improve on the above qualities of “global human resources” through such brief overseas experiences? The present paper addresses these questions, discussing the data obtained from university students through the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory (BEVI), a promising, reliable and valid psychological measure that has been increasingly prominent in study abroad research. It was found that the BEVI instrument is a very useful date-analytic tool for study abroad administrators and researchers, and that it is possible for students to change in the above qualities through a short study abroad experience, although there are also considerable individual differences that must be taken into account in designing a study abroad program.