Most study abroad trips from the U.S. include about twice as many women as men — a persistent gender gap that St. Thomas is not immune to, according to yearly data from the Institute of International Education.
Timothy Dohmen, St. Thomas’ associate director of Study Abroad, has been concerned about the gender gap.
“I’ve always wanted to see more men go abroad,” Dohmen said. “Your time abroad is going to give you … a much more informed and global perspective. There are a lot of women who are going to come back with this perspective and not as many men will.”
Last academic year, nationally, 65.3 percent of students who studied abroad were female and 34.7 percent were male. St. Thomas nearly matched the national average; 61 percent of participants were female and 39 percent male between 2013 and 2014.
Dohmen said it is uncommon to have a near equal percentage, a trend he’s seen not only at St. Thomas, but nationally, for years.
Although Dohman has not researched reasons for the gender gap, he did gather some observations from his time abroad as a resident director in Scotland.
“I don’t really know how to explain it,” Dohman said. “This is an anecdotal observation, but men tended to be with their friends or quickly wanted to get in a group. Women were more up for the adventure and doing something on their own.”
Junior Eric Thalmann, who is studying theology in Rome this January, agreed that some men do seem to stay in groups in college while women tend to be more adventurous.
“I think men tend to form groups of friends at college and are content staying where they are,” Thalmann said. “I believe women want to explore more. They have more creative minds and seem more enthusiastic about experiencing other cultures.”
Thalmann said his study abroad group is actually balanced, but he expects the gap to rise as more women see the experiences of their friends.
Dohman thinks such a large national gap could leave men behind in the future.
“There’s all kinds of implications. We’re looking at future leaders,” Dohman said. “Are the majority men or women? … We’re looking at those students that studied abroad, and there’s more women than men with that perspective.”
Junior Allison Mathias studied abroad in London last semester and thinks that more women studying abroad now will give them an advantage over men in the future workforce.
“I think we’re getting to a point in society where women are stepping up more and taking things into their own hands and wanting to be more adventurous,” Mathias said. “I think that women are going to steal all the jobs. Studying abroad is something that employers look for now. That will make us stand out.”
St. Thomas has made efforts to increase the number of students studying abroad, specifically in fields that tend to have more male students, according to Dohman. But he also said men aren’t the only ones behind in gaining an international perspective. The national survey also noted that 74.3 percent of both male and female students studying abroad last academic year were white.
“We need to look at underrepresented groups, not just men,” Dohman said. “There’s a lot of that, that we’ve been doing at St. Thomas. For example, students of color. We, I think, in this office, have been very aware of those students not studying abroad.”
Simeon Lancaster can be reached at lanc4637@stthomas.edu