The Forum on Education Abroad’s Career Catalyst campaign, and research initiative , has helped elevate the connection between global learning and workforce readiness, highlighting how experiences abroad correlate with higher wages, and foster skills employers increasingly value, including adaptability, communication, leadership, and problem-solving.
But if education abroad helps catalyse career success, and as students, families, employers, and policymakers increasingly focus on return on investment, an uncomfortable question emerges: who gets access to that catalyst?
Despite decades of effort to broaden participation, only 10% of U.S. undergraduates study abroad (IIE Open Doors Fast Facts 2025). While participation among some historically underrepresented student populations has increased over the last 10 years, that progress has not kept pace with broader enrolment trends (ACE 2024 Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education Project). With these demographic realities illustrating inequities in access, what are institutions doing to address these gaps?
As Dr. Eddie Contreras, vice provost for global engagement at Baylor University, notes, the growing emphasis on career outcomes doesn’t fundamentally change the equity conversation, but it does increase its urgency.
“The Career Catalyst campaign is an important reminder of how the tangible skills students develop while studying abroad can be translated into work-ready competencies,” Contreras says. “If anyone is missing from these experiences, or doesn’t have the opportunity to study abroad, then that is a problem.”
In other words, if education abroad contributes to career readiness, unequal access doesn’t just affect participation rates – it affects the long-term livelihoods of those who do and do not have access to career-building experiences.
If education abroad contributes to career readiness, unequal access doesn’t just affect participation rates – it affects the long-term livelihoods of those who do and do not have access to career-building experiences
“When participation in education abroad is concentrated among only certain groups of students, the benefits of international experiences are also concentrated,” Contreras notes. Students unable to access education abroad “run the risk of being further marginalised in their career prospects” by missing opportunities to develop those skills and experiences.
This perspective reframes access as more than a question of representation. It becomes a question of who has access to experiences that prepare graduates for an increasingly interconnected workforce.
Contreras argues that education abroad and career services must work more intentionally together to increase access for all students. Coordinated messaging before departure and after return can help students understand and articulate the value of their international experiences.
Importantly, emphasising career readiness does not mean abandoning the field’s commitment to intercultural learning, global citizenship, and perspective-taking.
“Rather than viewing these goals as competing priorities, I see them as reinforcing one another,” he says. The experiences that help students navigate cultural differences also build competencies employers seek, including teamwork, leadership, professionalism, and inclusion.
Organisations and institutions are beginning to respond.
At Providence College, the School of Business made international business consulting coursework available as an alternative way to satisfy the school’s internship requirement, creating an additional pathway to career-focused learning.
Across the field, organisations including API, CEA CAPA, IES Abroad, ISEP Study Abroad, USAC, WorldStrides Higher Education, Arizona State University Global Education, and the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies have invested in the Forum’s Career Catalyst research.
As CEA CAPA chief academic officer and provost Dr. Martha Johnson observes, “practitioners and organisations in international education need to come together in order to provide the data points necessary to make the compelling case we have needed for so long”.
At CEA CAPA, the Career Readiness for All framework expands career coaching, employer engagement, and guided reflection opportunities beyond internship programs, helping more students recognise and articulate the skills they gain abroad.
For years, conversations about access in education abroad have focused on fairness and inclusion. Those goals remain essential. But the Career Catalyst conversation suggests another lens: workforce equity. If global learning helps students build the skills that fuel career success, then expanding access is about more than who studies abroad – it’s about who has the opportunity to develop the competencies, confidence, and experiences that shape success after graduation.
About the authors: Dr. Kyle Rausch is vice president for academic partnerships at CEA CAPA Education Abroad. Formerly executive director of study abroad and international travel safety at the University of Illinois Chicago, he led a team that increased study abroad participation by 70%, oversaw institutional travel risk management, and advanced access for underrepresented students. A Fulbright Scholar (Taiwan 2023) and IDI qualified administrator, Kyle has served two terms on the Council of the Forum on Education Abroad.
Eduardo Contreras is vice provost for global engagement at Baylor University, where he serves as senior international officer and teaches intercultural understanding, qualitative research methods, and educational leadership. Previously, he was the inaugural senior international and diversity officer at the University of Portland – a president’s cabinet-level role. With more than 25 years in higher education, Dr. Contreras has advanced equity and internationalisation through scholarship, teaching, presentations, and publications. He serves on the board of directors for The Forum on Education Abroad and is faculty co-chair for the Harvard management development program. He holds a BA and MA from the University of Texas at Austin, and a master’s and doctorate of education from Harvard.
