In a globalized world, travel is increasingly seen as a critical part of rounding one’s character, and an essential part of an undergraduate career. Yet, comparatively few students of color are going abroad. Those that do can find themselves in countries where they are a distinct minority, making the transition away from home and other familiar places even more difficult.
Denmark does not immediately come to mind when thinking of popular study abroad destinations. In fact, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE), it ranked 21st on the list of countries students flock to. Yet the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS) has a uniquely sensitive approach to accommodating the minority students who do travel there. To assist their integration into Danish life, the Institute created the Diverse Identities Social Club, directed by Heather Wallerson Krog, an American-born expatriate.
The club’s goal is to help students find others with similar identities and backgrounds, as well as provide support as they navigate through an unfamiliar culture. “In essence it creates an open and safe space for students to talk about the cultural and identity journey that they’re on while studying abroad,” Krog said.
The conversation is complicated by that fact that few minority students are afforded the chance to travel during their postsecondary studies. Statistics show that study abroad is overwhelmingly the province of White, female students. According to Open Doors data from the IIE for the 2011/12 academic year, 64.8 percent of students who went abroad were women, compared to 35.2 percent of men. White students made up 76.4 percent of those going abroad, compared to the 5.3 percent who were African-American and 7.6 percent who were Hispanic or Latino/a.
Krog was entranced with Denmark when she first came to DIS as a student. She said that Danes were more apt to base their interactions with her on the basis of her nationality, not on the color of her skin. “Being an American while I was in America was not a part of my identity that shone through as clearly as it did once I left the country,” she said. “It was refreshing and it was part of the reason that I decided to relocate here.”
Though Denmark is known for being an egalitarian society, it is also relatively racially homogenous. Close to 90 percent of Denmark’s inhabitants are of Danish descent. Rose Cherubin, a young African-American woman who studied in Denmark last spring, said, “In Copenhagen, you are literally walking in a sea of people and you are different.”
