Development and Validation of a Competency Assessment Model for Study Abroad Students

Jorge Monray

EconStor Preprints from ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics

Abstract: Although study abroad programs have proliferated across higher education, the field lacks a psychometrically rigorous instrument for measuring the intercultural competence that such programs are designed to foster (Bettez & Lineberry, 2020; Schartner, 2015). Existing measures rely predominantly on self-report methods as the one proposed here. Even if this approach could be vulnerable to social desirability bias, ceiling effects, and persistent construct ambiguity, which has led to inconsistent interpretations of student development across programs (Griffith et al., 2016; Jaiswal et al., 2024; Stemler et al., 2014), this paper addresses that gap by proposing a situational personal judgment test to assess the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of intercultural competencies among outbound study abroad students (Allen, 2022; Schembri, 2024). The paper articulates the theoretical rationale for the proposed target construct, details the design specifications and item development procedures, and outlines the framework for collecting validity and reliability evidence in accordance with contemporary standards in educational and psychological measurement (Griffith et al., 2016; Ji, 2020; Sercu, 2004). By formalizing observable indicators of intercultural performance, the resulting instrument is intended to provide researchers, program administrators, and accreditation reviewers with actionable, longitudinal evidence of student development during and following international immersion (Cartwright et al., 2021; Hanada, 2019; Shadowen et al., 2015). Conclusion state the multidimensionality of global competency is verified, proving that students develop distinct cognitive, affective, and social-emotional profiles that must be scored, evaluated, and fostered independently rather than collapsed into a generic score. The Global Competency Assessment Framework (GCAF), represents a highly reliable, error-minimized, and psychometrically distinct diagnostic battery.

Keywords: global competence; intercultural communication; international workforce (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F23 M16 M53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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