Despite targeted outreach and the availability of financial aid, minority-student study abroad participation declined for several groups, according to the new Open Doors report from the Institute of International Education. The report, however, showed an 8.5 percent overall increase in study abroad participation.
“It is very disheartening to see how slowly the minorities’ share of study abroad is increasing,” said IIE Chief Operating Officer Peggy Blumenthal.
The data, from school year 2007-08, shows African-American student participation increased from 3.8 to 4 percent, but participation by Asian-Americans and Latinos decreased by a tenth of a percent each, from 6.7 to 6.6 percent and from 6 to 5.9 percent, respectively. This reflects a 10-year period of slow, if not stagnant growth for all minorities, during which study abroad participants doubled from about 130,000 to more than 260,000.
“A lot of steps are starting to be taken” to increase minority participation, Blumenthal said, “but it still doesn’t seem to be moving the needle enough.”
The most prevalent obstacles include lack of information and motivation, experts say. Minority students, particularly those at smaller institutions, may not have faculty that have studied abroad and therefore don’t receive encouragement to do so. Small schools may not have extensive study abroad offices to offer information and without peers who have gone abroad students lack the motivation to learn more about studying abroad.
“One program that shows it is certainly possibly to dramatically increase minority study abroad is the Gilman program,” Blumenthal said.
Established in 2001 and funded by the federal government, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program provides scholarships to U.S. undergraduates receiving federal financial aid through Pell Grants to study abroad, particularly at nontraditional study abroad destinations. Students can receive up to $5,000 to study abroad, with an additional $3,000 possible if they are studying critical languages. The program is administered by IIE and 1,700 students receive scholarships each year.
