ABSTRACT
Study-abroad impacts are often examined primarily through the lens of individual students’ developments. However, there is a notable lack of research on the broader societal effects of study-abroad experiences. This chapter responds to this critical gap in the literature by discussing the empirical evidence from quantitative and qualitative data about the impacts of Indo-Pacific mobility experiences beyond the personal, intercultural and professional development of individual students to familial, communal and social impacts. The wider impacts include students’ influences on their family, friends and communities in the home country. The chapter also highlights how such outbound student mobility contributes to capacity building in host countries at individual, institutional, and national levels. In addition to students’ perspectives, this chapter includes insights from academic and professional staff from home institutions and staff from host organisations – voices that are often under-represented in the literature. The chapter argues that these broader dimensions of the social impact of student mobility to the Indo-Pacific need to be brought to the fore and further explored.
