The epitome of transformation: Enhancing outbound mobility experiences in the twenty-first century

As Australia ventures deeper into the Asian Century, the need for outward-looking, global-minded graduates has never been greater. The outbound mobility experience (OME is recognized as one of the most effective tools to facilitate personal transformation and improve cross-cultural competencies. Funded by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching, the project Enhancing Programmes to Integrate Tertiary Outbound Mobility Experiences (EPITOME), launched in 2015, conducted student-focused research into OMEs to provide a comprehensive and usable best-practice guide for tour operators and academic staff and to investigate key challenges to participation in OMEs, as well as lessons learned by experienced facilitators and OME designers. This chapter outlines EPITOME’s research programme and key findings.