Diversifying Study Abroad...

The article I read was published in 2008 and talks about data on profiles of study abroad students focusing on racial minority groups from 1993/94 to 2005/06.  In 2005/06, the percentage of Caucasians studying abroad was 83%, Asian-Americans was 6.3%, Hispanic Americans was 5.4%, African-Americans was 3.5%, multiracial was 1.2% and Native American was .6%.  These numbers were only slight increases from 1993/94.  I was just curious about what more recent percentages looked like, so I visited the Open Doors reports online and for 2010/11, the profiles of study abroad students based on racial backgrounds are:
White: 77.8%
Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: 7.9%
Hispanic or Latino(a): 6.9%
Black or African-American: 4.8%
Multiracial: 2.1%
American Indian or Alaska Native: .5%

So, as you can see, the most recent numbers have only slightly increased over a span of 5 years.  This article caused me to reflect on a recent conference I attended on April 1 & 2: the Inaugural Diversity Abroad Conference.  While this article gives some possible reasons why the interest from minority students isn't there, it was clear to me from sessions at the conference that we're (Study Abroad Offices) may not be necessarily doing everything we can to break down barriers/myths for ALL students who might be interested in studying abroad.  One particular session was focused on the ethics of marketing to a diverse audience, and the presenter encouraged more multicultural marketing, or rather, a more differentiated approach.  She said that through this we employ knowledge of and respect for general cultural touch points.  She also asked her audience this question:

Are our own concerns about offending students holding us back? And what can we do about it?

• Acknowledge we all have biases and perceptions of others, but that we should not act on them.
• Ask underrepresented students for their ideas and opinions.
• Tailor marketing to appeal to different groups, but recognize students of similar backgrounds are not necessarily monolithic.
• Become comfortable with your discomforts and act based on what's best for the student.
• Give yourself permission to reach out.

This was just one example of many the presenter gave as somewhere to start that may result in an increase in participation of minority groups in study abroad.  Does anyone else have ideas of other strategies that could diversify study abroad?

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