Institutional Capitalism and Neoliberalism: International Students’ Social-Emotional Experiences in Ontario Elite Boarding Schools

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 2:30 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Social Mobility, Belonging, and Access to Opportunity: Perspectives From Across the Globe (Table 28)

Abstract

Current approaches to social-emotional experiences are insensitive to cultural differences, and individuals from diverse backgrounds, including international students, are undergoing marginalization, stereotyping, identity crisis, and various forms of racism as a consequence. Thus, this critical phenomenological research aimed to examine international students’ social-emotional experiences within a particular context of Ontario elite boarding schools. Interviews from fifteen participants demonstrated that positive social-emotional can lead to the development of a bicultural identity while negative experiences can result in cultural identity crisis, assimilation, internalization, and/or double marginalization. Furthermore, this study analyzed the role of capitalism and neoliberalism in students’ experiences, especially regarding the commodification of education and concealment of racism, justification of categorization, and hierarchical teacher-student relationship.

Author

• Soo Kyung (Sue) Min, University of Toronto