Global Capital and the Global Field of Education: How Chinese Elites Navigate International Education

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Abstract

The study explores the growing phenomenon of global mobility among elite individuals, particularly through international education. It highlights how elite students, primarily from the Global South, seek opportunities in the Global North, complicating traditional understandings of social stratification and inequality. While sociology has largely overlooked international students in discussions of educational inequality, their presence is significant at top universities, often outnumbering domestic minority students.
Research on global elites has primarily focused on financial and corporate networks, but little is known about their lifestyles and social structures. Prior studies, such as those on elite schools in the U.S. and Singapore, suggest that elite students cultivate transnational capital, forming exclusive networks that sustain their social advantage. Additionally, recent findings indicate that international students cluster in global cities like New York and London rather than traditional elite institutions like Ivy League schools.
China serves as an ideal case study due to its large number of international students and its shifting education landscape. As studying abroad has become more accessible, an industry of private consultants has emerged to help families navigate elite admissions. The concept of ‘global fields’ is introduced to analyze how education operates as a transnational sphere with its own unique capital—cultural cosmopolitanism—benefiting those from privileged backgrounds.
I conducted interviews with 50 Chinese parents of potential/current international students. that choosing international education is not merely an academic decision but also a migratory one. Many parents anticipate their children staying abroad, suggesting that international education is intertwined with long-term mobility. Furthermore, specifically ‘global’ types of social capital operate with a distinct use-value within the global ‘field’ of education, as contrasted with the ‘national’.

Author

• Conor McCutcheon, New York University