This chapter and the next two are closely interrelated and even overlap to some degree. In this chapter we discuss the subjective elements that go into personal calculations in reaching a decision about going abroad. Chapter 4 reports campus attitudes to this decision, and Chapter 5 examines in detail the obstacles of various kinds that stand in the way of U.S. scholars going overseas. Although in fact the decision to go abroad rests on a complex calculation, it seems useful to sort out and reflect upon the components.

The considerations in the decision making may be divided into four categories: (1) personal costs, (2) personal benefits, (3) professional costs, and (4) professional benefits. Most of these have evolved significantly in recent years.

Personal costs

In many cases it is impossible to distinguish the real personal costs of an international experience from an individual's perceptions of these costs. Since both reality and perception affect decisions, both are important. The revolutionary advances in communications in recent years have had dramatic impact on perceptions. Just as vivid television reporting contributed, for example, to the termination of the Vietnam war, so the intimacy of telecommunications has influenced the understanding of costs and benefits of an international experience. This is true especially of personal costs.

Health and safety

We found a high level of concern among many faculty about potential health problems, not only for themselves, but for their families.