On Strike in France

The words “French” and “strikes” go together about as well as “French” and “toast” — and Brown University students are getting a first-hand education this term in labor relations in their host country.

Widespread strikes at French universities have led to the cancellation of some or all of courses in which the Brown students have enrolled, according to the Brown Daily Herald. Of 24 students spending the term in Paris, 17 have had courses partially or completely cancelled.

French faculty have led strikes at many institutions during the past nine weeks to show their opposition to the Bologna Process in the standardization of higher education across Europe.

The strikes have ended at universities in Lyon, and Brown officials hope the strikes in Paris will end soon. Kendall Brostuen, Brown’s director of the Office of International Programs, said that Brown students can still expect to receive full academic credit for their overseas work.

Steady Going at Brown

Fall 2009 study-abroad numbers at Brown University are holding steady when compared with those of 2008, the Brown Daily Herald reported today.

Director of International Programs Kendall Brostuen says Brown will have about 250 students going abroad next fall, compared to 248 last fall and 212 in 2007. While some schools are showing substantial declines in study abroad enrollment, Brostuen says his institution’s enrollments “demonstrate that Brown students understand the value of the international dimension to liberal learning.”

About two-thirds of Brown’s abroad students will head for Europe in the fall. Twenty percent will study in Asia and the Americas, 10 percent in Africa and 5 percent in the Middle East and Oceania.

More on the Study Abroad Gender Gap

One of the most-talked-about issues in study abroad is the 2-1 ratio of women to men who are willing to study outside the United States. Melissa Quinby, the assistant director of off-campus study at Bowdoin College in Maine, is trying to figure out why.

Quinby recently wrapped up a study of gender differences in international education at Bowdoin, Brown and Brandeis and offers five hypotheses that might explain why woman are much more likely to go abroad than men:

• Majors that appeal to men — such as mathematics and the sciences — are less applicable to study abroad than are those that appeal to women — such as languages and the humanities.
• Men may be more influenced by their peers to stay stateside than are women due to their level of maturity and development.
• Men tend to have more athletic commitments that keep them on campus than do women.
• Men have less experience in international travel and work.
• Men also may be more interested in career paths that don't include international travel.

Quinby stresses that her study presents hypotheses only and, as we academics frequently say, more research is necessary.

“Studies have been done over and over again and nobody can answer this question,” she says.