Beakers Aweigh

The alarming difference between the number of science and humanities concentrators studying abroad should not be dismissed as inevitable. The College must do more to increase international opportunities for science students, especially over the summer.

Last year, only about 15 percent of the students studying abroad were science or math concentrators, while the other 85 percent of students were in the social sciences and the humanities. This disparity is not necessarily a problem—perhaps science concentrators are personally less interested in study abroad, or are more likely to believe that the courses and facilities available abroad are inadequate. However, we are skeptical of both excuses; we see no reason that science concentrators are radically less interested in having an international experience or to believe that our science and math departments are simply incomparable to the rest of the world. After all, even if there is a difference between applied math at Harvard and applied math at the University of Bogotá, there is presumably also a difference between the study of English literature here and abroad.

Therefore, it is likely that this disparity indicates that science students face greater barriers to studying abroad than other students. Science concentrations tend to have a less flexible trajectory of study. Students face a strict sequence of classes, which forces them to plan their courses far in advance. In turn, this regimentation makes fitting in a term abroad difficult. Additionally, science departments tend to be less willing to accept credit for study done abroad, compounding the fundamental problem of strict requirements.

Unfortunately, short of reducing concentration requirements, there is little that the College can do to address these basic problems. The College should encourage departments to make an effort to find equivalently rigorous programs abroad, possibly by establishing more direct relations with other universities. An expansion of Harvard-affiliated programs abroad is particularly called for when a given location offers unique educational opportunities, such as tropical marine biology. Furthermore, the Office of International Programs (OIP) could do more to consolidate the process of applying to study abroad for science concentrators.

Term time study aside, the College and the OIP should focus their efforts on easing the process of studying abroad during summer, because the summer months do not have the same real or perceived opportunity cost as time taken from the academic year. Summer study abroad is particularly helpful for science concentrators, because it allows them to avoid the problem of interrupting a strict plan of study to engage in an international experience. However, the financial cost of going abroad during the summer, both in terms of actual cost incurred and in terms of income not earned, is often a serious burden, so the College could do more to make financial aid for summer travel more available and accessible.

In its drive to ensure that students have an “international experience,” the College should do its best to ensure that science-oriented students do not find themselves unduly constrained by their choice of concentration. However, ultimately, there is nothing the school can (or should) do to ensure the strict numerical parity of science and humanities concentrators studying abroad.