The Office of International Programs is conducting a survey to learn why fewer males study abroad. The study - conducted in collaboration with Bowdoin College and Brandeis University - surveyed 100 randomly chosen students from each class at each school to find out what factors influence a student's decision to study abroad.
"We're trying to get an understanding of why there is a gender gap in study abroad," said Samantha Brandauer, assistant director of the OIP. "The goal is to see whether we can get more men to study abroad."
According to the Institute of International Education, 34.5 percent of students who studied abroad in 2005 were male. That percentage has declined from 37.8 percent in 1995. The OIP survey is part of the data-collecting stage in the first comprehensive research about gender and study abroad.
"Our hypothesis is less men study abroad because of language study. More women than men are language concentrators," Brandauer said.
Jeremiah Kittredge '08, who studied in Paris in 2006, said, "There were a lot more girls in my language classes. Study abroad programs that have a language requirement might have more women."
Brandaeur and her colleagues at Brandeis and Bowdoin will present their findings at a conference of the Council on International Educational Exchange in Toronto this November.
