The issue of gender in study abroad

According to a recent study, women are almost twice as likely to study abroad than men. Three researchers at the University of Iowa surveyed 2,800 students at 19 different universities to determine the reasons behind this divide.

This statistic is attributed to the large number of women who choose to study foreign languages and the humanities, which are represented the most in study abroad programs. However, women choosing foreign study also outnumber men in male-dominated majors like the sciences.

Mark Salisbury, a research assistant and doctoral student at the University of Iowa's Center for Research of Undergraduate Education, helped complete the study. He began researching the gender-specific motives behind students' choices to study abroad because of many universities' investment in expanding their international programs.

Salisbury first developed a model to determine what shapes students' decisions to study abroad. He then applied this model to collect data to determine what motivates men and women to study abroad.

Salisbury said the study put in clear terms "what shapes men and women differently" — resulting in an interesting explanation of the differences in gender participation in study abroad.

According to Chris Nicolussi, senior director for student services and support for the Office of Global Programs, 65 percent of all students studying abroad at the NYU centers are female. (According to College Board, 60 percent of NYU undergraduates are female.) Gender, Nicolussi said, is not a factor in the NYU study abroad admissions process.

"Our recruitment efforts focus on the importance international education has on an undergraduate degree," Nicolussi said. "There are no promotional efforts designed uniquely for male students."

David Greenberg, a sociology professor and affiliated faculty member in the gender and sexuality studies department at NYU, said he was completely surprised by the study abroad gender imbalance, but said correcting an imbalance would be "impractical," because doing so would involve adding additional facilities abroad to accommodate male-dominant majors.

"[Correcting the imbalance] would be very costly," Greenberg said. "If you look at the offerings in Berlin, or Paris … they don't offer the full range of course offerings, and they can't."

Alana Horowitz, a CAS junior currently studying abroad in Ghana, was also surprised by the conclusion of the study. She said she was hesitant about making generalizations from the results, as the dominating female presence at NYU in Ghana — 84 percent of the students currently there are female — has not affected her experience.

"Gender is not an issue at all, and I don't feel like the 'gender imbalance' has affected my experience at all," she said. "When you're hanging out with awesome people, it doesn't really matter what gender they are."

Kelsey Desiderio is a staff writer.