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Breaking the Barriers to Overseas Study for Students of Color and Minorities
By Marilyn J. Jackson
Why don't students of color and minority students study abroad? study us Certainly there are very practical reasons including lack of finances and fear of not graduating on time. Donald Washington in his 1998 dissertation on African American student's perceptions and attitudes toward study abroad found that lack of awareness was the greatest contributor to the lack of African American participation in study abroad programs (Washington, 1998, p. 125.) I propose that two of the main reasons for this lack of awareness are historical exclusion from and media images of study abroad programs.
In regards to historical exclusion, due to numerous economic and socio-political reasons, minority families do not have a history of sending young people abroad for the purposes of education. In contrast, among many upper-middle class, predominately white families there is a long established tradition of sending young people,study us especially women to Europe for "finishing". Back in the 1800's in some circles the travel abroad experience was preferable to college for marriage preparation. (Solomon, 1985) Traveling abroad for privileged women is considered a rite of passage and a long established tradition in many families. Even in this day and age it is relatively unlikely that a minority student will have had a family member or peer who has studied abroad. Even the people who traditionally mentor minority students may not have studied abroad and don't see the value in it. (Monaghan, 1994) So for an average minority student there is very little "word of mouth" information about the program from the sources close to them.
Media has a huge influence on all of us and can influence what we wear, which politician we support and which cola we drink. There are plenty of media images out there that depict study abroad or travel abroad experiences. There is practically a whole genre of light-hearted "fish out of water" movies that have entertained generations of young people from Sabrina (1954) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) through the Mary-Kate and Ashley movies (they go to Paris, London, Australia), the new Lizzie McGuire (2003) movie and the more infamous Eurotrip (2004). Movies that depict minority students and students of color in similar situations are almost impossible to find. So in addition to having few real life role models who have studied abroad, students of color don't have many virtual role models either. The combination of these factors leads to what I like to call the "not for people like me" syndrome. People don't think that study abroad is right for them and then filter out or ignore information about study abroad.
Changing people's minds about study abroad is not easy, but there are a few things that study abroad advisors can do to try to raise the awareness of study abroad among students of color and minorities. Many of them do not take a lot of time and moneystudy us.
Create a Welcoming Atmosphere for All Students If your office is a shrine to the European location where you studied abroad, change the decorations to reflect a plethora of cultures. If possible, consider diversifying your staff and your student assistant or volunteer pool.
