Education, Migration, and Cultural Capital in the Chinese Diaspor ...

Globally, the vast majority of international students choose to study in very specific English-speaking countries, namely, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States (British Council).⁴ Student origins are equally circumscribed; in 2003, 53% of the global demand for international student places came from a small number of countries in Asia. This number is predicted to grow to 71% by 2020 (British Council).

Whilst such dramatic growth in international education (IE) has attracted considerable political attention, the differential symbolic power of overseas qualifications to confer social status has remained largely concealed. In order to function successfully, educational institutions and national brands require a collective belief in their ability to define academic success. As Bourdieu (1986) wrote,

This book addresses this significant gap in our understanding of IE with an exploration of the symbolic performative magic of overseas credentials. Whilst academic interest in IE is growing (e.g., Brooks & Waters, 2007; Butcher, 2004; Collins, 2006; Findlay et al., 2006; King & Ruiz-Gelices, 2003; Lewis, 2005; Olds, 2007; Sidhu, 2002; Waters, 2005), research is still very much in its infancy. There is a dearth of scholarship examining the symbolic and material meanings of the overseas education in relation to transnational forms of mobility.

Conceptualising Education

This book adopts a particular perspective on education and academic achievement. I concur with the view that academic qualifications can be strategically accumulated by individuals with access to financial, cultural, and social capital and that practices of, and success in, education are often determined by social class rather than necessarily reflecting natural talent or intelligence (Bourdieu, 1984; Brown, 1995; Goldthorpe, 1996; cf., Young, 1958). The hitherto close relationship between academic achievement and class status should have diminished with the worldwide expansion of educational provision, leading to a societal shift, in Collins’ (1979) words, ‘from ascription to achievement, from a system of privilege to a technical meritocracy’ (p. 5).