Queering Study Abroad: Web-Based Outreach to LGBTQ+ University Students by Study Abroad Programs

Abstract

Effective outreach to queer/LGBTQ+ students is an important part of higher educational efforts to encourage their participation in study abroad opportunities. To explore the prevalence and nature of online outreach to queer students, we quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed the study abroad program webpages of 38 higher educational institutions with distinguished reputations in international studies. Outreach to queer status was one of the most common types, along with outreach to ethnicity and disability status. Queer outreach varied as a function of institution type, occurring twice as often by public than by private universities, and seven times as often by secular than by religiously-affiliated universities. Using thematic analysis, we found that a majority of queer outreach content was generated by organizations external to the study abroad office, and in-house generated content was a combination of cautionary and inviting. We discuss ways to improve study abroad outreach to queer students in higher education.*
 *Note: The originally published version of this article was missing Tables 1 and 2 and author biographies. A corrected version was uploaded on May 6, 2020. If you read the article prior to that date, we encourage you to revisit it.