What’s Next? Facilitating Post-study Transitions

Abstract

Key pivot points in any international scholarship process test the alignment of the award program’s goals with the realities of the individual grantee’s experience. This chapter investigates the moment when that alignment is thrown into particularly high relief: the end of the academic study portion of the scholarship. It explores how context drives mission, how the context-mission dynamic impacts program design, and how the resulting designs open or narrow the gap between mission and grantee realities at the point of post-study decisions. Traditionally promoted with the belief that exposure to alternative educational resources and cultures would spur mutual understanding and promote peace, many scholarship programs have shifted toward promoting “positive social change” and “leadership.” Given evolving perceptions of the agency of individuals in social change, the chapter suggests recalibrating the vision of what a pathway to positive social change should look like in international scholarship programs.