<p>We attended the info session for study abroad at D’s orientation and I was amazed to learn the ratio of women to men who study abroad is 70/30. This was borne out by students at the session. (Actually, this was borne out everywhere at orientation - my D may be dateless for the next 4 years). It also seems consistent with discussion of study abroad on CC, which seem to rarely feature men. Yes, I know more guys are in physical sciences/math/engineering, which are less flexible re required courses vs. the more smooshy majors. And I know that there are probably more women than men in traditional colleges these days. But 70/30?</p>
<p>Perhaps my D’s explanation is correct: guys are just boring.</p>
<p>It will probably be the same in our family - the girls will most likely study abroad, the boy has no interest in people or other cultures. It could be the majors they choose; I was an engineering major and had no interest in study abroad.</p>
<p>My D is more likely to study abroad–I want her to go to Germany, since she’s been studying their language, musicals & culture for years. 2 of my nieces also studies abroad–London (one stayed at her OOS campus instead). My S has turned down study abroad options (EE), he says the schools they have programs with aren’t that good academically.</p>
<p>My friend’s D has just ended 10 months abroad–she was in Italy as a HS JR. One of my buddies was the only redhead as a HS JR back in the day in Japan–she barely fit the petite clothing that was the school uniform. She has a “sister” and made lifelong friends with her host family there–really keeps in touch with the sister since she was the only girl in a family of boys. My college boyfriend hosted a study abroad male in HS. My friend provides housing for study abroad kids & tends to get even genders–they practice English in HI.</p>
<p>What’s the ratio of men to women in fields which lend themselves well to study abroad programs? I would guess something like 30/70 (or almost that).</p>
<p>I do think choice of majors has something to do with it. I don’t know many engineering majors who study abroad.
That said, my s did it. As did his best buddy (separately of course). Both loved it and now talk about going back and even working there (Europe) for a stint. Both talk about how much they learned, how much fun they had…and something most girls don’t mention…how much they loved the BEER over there. Maybe more guys would be interested in going over if they understood this part…lol.</p>
<p>well they may be late bloomers- have their adrenaline needs met in other ways, or plan to travel after college instead of going off campus, just when they were starting to get the hang of it.
My older daughter had no interest- we did inquire, but if your program meets your interests, adding another factor in, seems unnecessarily complicated.
PLus at her school the logical time is between freshman and sophomore year, which means you have to start planning pretty soon.
A school that had fewer distribution requirements, would be easier or for instance a school like Lewis & Clark, where international study is a big part of the school.</p>
<p>My younger daughter on the other hand ( WHO IS COMING HOME TODAY! her high adrenaline requirements and all), at barely 19, has been to ( none of these places with her momma) Africa- Hawaii- D.C. & NYC, Europe-Scandinavia & U.K, United Arab Emirates and India.</p>
<p>None of my kids (both genders represented) did study abroad.</p>
<p>All were either president, on deck to be president, or were in a major leadership position (like Editor-in-Chief or Managing Editor) of a large campus organization by junior year. The kids who did Junior year overseas were not able to take on these roles.</p>
<p>So maybe there’s a gender bias towards men for these big jobs? So they don’t consider leaving town?</p>
<p>My kids would have had to start planning for time away during Freshman year if they were going to graduate on time. (We told them we were on the hook for 8 semesters tuition. period. ) None of them could have pulled that off- either due to the nature of the course sequences, the difficulty in getting credits in their major for work completed elsewhere, etc.</p>
<p>So not sure where gender plays into that- except that perhaps women are less concerned with graduating on time? Or are prepared to be more flexible in meeting their core requirements? Or come in with more AP credits which gives them some leeway? Or are better at mapping out a major that allows time away?</p>
<p>My brother in law spent a few years in Vienna as a Mormon missionary and while he virtually has not done any traveling since then- it gave him lots of stories
;)</p>
<p>Sometimes guys would rather not travel in groups. Girls are far more sociable- remember, we’re the ones on the dance floors!!!</p>
<p>That said, some may be looking to travel on their own in the summer or after graduation where they don’t have to operate on someone else’s schedule.</p>
<p>My brother definitely wants to study abroad but we’re waiting to see if he’ll actually act on his plan.</p>
<p>I studied abroad in Israel. I think I saw far more girls than guys in my program. It could be that we were in Jerusalem, not secular Tel Aviv.</p>
<p>I’m an engineer, a guy, and definitely planning on studying abroad, twice if I can manage it. Oe of them is a summer program put on by my department (Viterbi Sschool of Engineering at USC) where they bring teachers abroad with the students, so everything is taught by the same professors, just in a different place. The other one is the whole university’s study abroad program, and in that program I’m very limited in choices. I have to take some classes for my major if I want to graduate on time, so that limits me to exactly two schools I can study abroad at. Luckily, one of them is Queen Mary, University of London, so that both removes the language issue and is in a great place.</p>
<p>Part of it is likely the attraction of men to relatively technical majors, but part of it may also be men’s attraction to fields where summer internships are crucial for getting jobs. </p>
<p>The academic calendars in some foreign countries differ from those in the United States. A student who is going to the United Kingdom for the spring semester, for example, doesn’t get home until July – too late for a summer internship. Because most students who study abroad do it in their junior year, and usually in the spring semester, and because most internships of significance take place in the summer after junior year, this is an important conflict.</p>
<p>Neither of my kids studied abroad. My son was in a technical major that was too structured for him to even consider it. My daughter is in a less technical field (though it’s one where the majority of students are men) and initially was interested in study abroad until she realized that it would interfere with internship opportunities. She decided that trying to get a good internship in the summer before her senior year was more important.</p>
<p>[I can’t believe no one has posted this yet.]</p>
<p>Great news for the OP’s daughter! As with so many other things, they now manufacture boys abroad, too. And rumor has it they are in plentiful supply (except for a few places with civil wars or ongoing genocide), and fully up to U.S. consumer standards.</p>
<p>You know the old saying: When in Rome, do the Romans.</p>
<p>My D’s study abroad experience has been that primarily females participate but it also seems to vary based on what country and what program it is. Programs that were more unstructured with more free travel time seemed more appealing to males. Blossom is right about delaying graduation if you study abroad for a semester or more. That’s why my D was limited to a summer program but she has friends who will graduate a year late because of study abroad.</p>
<p>My D’s abroad program in Budapest was 2/3 guys…but it was in Math. The internships in D.C. were more evenly split though she found some of either sex could be really annoying.</p>
<p>My S’ school (LAC) has an 80%+ rate of students studying abroad during their junior year. It’s one of the reasons he was attracted to the school. He is majoring in a foreign language and as a rising sophomore already has an internship in Europe this summer.</p>
<p>Males at his school definitely are into studying abroad.</p>
<p>Didn’t read the whole thread, but some of it could be of other extra curricular commitments that make studying abroad very difficult. For instance, most athletes may not be able to do that. Perhaps if men have higher rates of athletic participation on college teams, then there is a whole group of guys that wouldn’t go abroad.</p>
