When junior Jennifer Andrews decided to study abroad in Madrid, Spain, one of her central concerns was how being a minority would affect her experience overseas.
"I tried to research the experiences of minorities abroad and why we were so underrepresented," said Andrews, who is black.
"However, I found that there was a lack of information available."
As a result, Andrews said she decided to develop a Web site catered specifically to minority students at UNC.
The site, International and Cultural Awareness for Minority Students, seeks to promote and support study abroad among minorities and can be found within the UNC Study Abroad Web site at studyabroad.unc.edu/icams.
The site gives students advice from other students and advisers, links to need- and academic-based scholarships and lists national statistics demonstrating the under-representation of minorities studying abroad.
The site's statistics, provided by the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers, show that in 2003-04 almost 84 percent of U.S. students who studied abroad were Caucasian, 6 percent were Asian, 5 percent were Hispanic and only 3.4 percent were black.
"Nationally, the statistics are not as shocking to me just because most minorities do come from a lower socio-economic class," said Erika Lopez-Finn, a Hispanic sophomore who said that she plans to study abroad in Spain in spring 2008.
"Students aren't focusing on studying abroad," she said. "They're focusing on just paying for college itself."
Arnab Saha, a sophomore of Indian heritage who studied abroad in the Singapore first-year immersion program last summer, said he strongly encourages minority students to take advantage of any scholarships available.
Saha said if it weren't for the scholarship he received through the immersion program, he probably wouldn't have gone abroad.
"I couldn't afford a $10,000 program over the summer," he said.
"Minority applicants have one of the coolest opportunities to study abroad," Saha said.
"You get so much out of it. You get a more pragmatic perspective on things, greater self-confidence and a much greater thirst for knowledge."
Bob Miles, associate dean for study abroad and international exchanges, said ICAMS gives minority students who are concerned about racism abroad positive encouragement.
"It's the atmosphere that's created," Miles said. "It's about peer identity. It says, 'If my peers have done this, this could be for me.' And that's extremely valuable."
Andrews said she hopes ICAMS will help dispel some of the common misconceptions minorities might have about studying abroad.
"The study abroad experience is something that you cannot receive from a textbook," she said. "The work environment is becoming increasingly global, and … we have progressively more access to global markets.
"I want to reiterate to minorities how important it is to study abroad in such a global economy."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
