Once students return from study abroad, Gilman scholarship recipients do a follow-up project to help promote study abroad.
“Peer-to-peer outreach is so important in reaching these groups,” Hauck said. “We think that that’s really been helpful in our success in reaching a diverse audience.”
But while Gilman is effective, it can’t work alone, said Andrew Gordon, president of Diversity Abroad, which travels to high schools, community colleges and universities to promote international education and other global exchange opportunities. The Gilman could use more partnerships to help with outreach, from his organizations and others like it, Gordon said.
“It will take some time” to create real change, he said. “In the last few years there has been a concerted effort, trying to implement various strategies to bring in nontraditional students … there was no concerted effort before.”
“As more organizations implement the best practices and strategies for reaching the under-represented,” he said, “we will see more movement in those numbers.”
