For over 30 years, international educators have recognized that Students of Color participate in study abroad opportunities at considerably lower rates than their white peers. Despite concerted efforts to address this disparity, the proportion of Students of Color studying abroad has largely remained unchanged over the last three decades. To better support Students of Color studying abroad and increase their participation in this high impact practice, international educators need to better understand students’ lived experiences. In this qualitative study, I used focus groups and narrative interviews to investigate how Students of Color experienced studying abroad in a location where they were part of the racial or ethnic majority. I used critical race theory (CRT) and its extensions as theoretical lenses for this research. Findings from this study point to the importance of not essentializing the experiences of Students of Color who studied abroad given the variation in what they experienced. However, many participants had positive experiences on this type of study abroad program, which suggests studying abroad in a location where Students of Color are in the racial or ethnic majority may be a good fit for some Students of Color. Findings from this study also support the careful use of CRT and its extensions for conducting study abroad research focused on Students of Color.
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