Commenting on the changing profile of non-resident brides, SMU Dean of Students and Professor of Sociology (Practice) Paulin Straughan explained how transnational marriages have transformed. She pointed out that the demographic profile has changed over the past 20 years, with economic growth in the region bringing greater educational and economic opportunities in their home countries. The result is that foreign wives are better educated. Separately, the number of Singaporean men who are less educated and who may have difficulties finding a local wife has shrunk, she added.