Study Abroad Participation Up, Except Among Minority Students: 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.”
