The cultural adaptation process of agricultural and life sciences students on short-term study abroad experiences

The purpose of this study was to explore how undergraduate students in a college of agricultural and life sciences experienced cultural adaptation during short-term study abroad programs. The specific objectives of this study were to describe how undergraduate students in the college of agricultural and life sciences experienced culture throughout short-term, study abroad programs, to describe how the participants were affected by their cultural surroundings while participating in the program, and to propose a theory of cultural adaptation. The methodological approach used for this study was the case study and more specially, the collective case study. Three short-term study abroad programs were used and included programs located in France, Swaziland, and Costa Rica.;Data collection methods included pre-travel questions, reflective journaling, postexperience questions, photographs, and participant observation. Data were analyzed using the grounded theory analysis method. The grounded theory analysis method used open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The analysis allowed for the emergence of eight categories and 35 sub-categories.;Results of this study indicated that participants in each of the case studies experienced cultural adaptation differently. Many of the participants experienced initial feelings that emerged prior to traveling to the destination country. Participants experienced varying levels of cultural uncertainty, cultural barriers, and cultural negativity while traveling abroad. Additionally, many of the participants experienced academic and career growth while experiencing different types of feelings throughout the program. Cultural growth was also a finding from this study. The extent to which each participant experienced the identified stages and sub-stages of cultural adaptation depended on the individual participants' and the short-term study abroad program.