Scholarship as a soft power tool: Critical Discourse Analysis of Chevening Scholarship Program

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Mobility, AI, and DSO Engagement

Proposal

Scholarship as a soft power tool: Critical Discourse Analysis of Chevening Scholarship Program
Introduction
Despite their philanthropic appearance, international scholarship programs exhibit diverse dispositions, politics, and goals, which vary depending on their founders. These goals often include international relations, public diplomacy, capacity building, and promoting socioeconomic development in developing countries. The Chevening Scholarship, a prominent UK government initiative, recruits “students with demonstrable potential to become future leaders, decision-makers, and opinion formers” (https://www.gov.uk) and expects them to return to their home countries to drive social change. The Chevening Scholarship navigates the intersection of foreign policy and developmental aid, promoting leadership and mutual benefit narratives. However, a more nuanced investigation is needed to fully understand the Chevening program and its underlying goals and expectations. This study uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to explore Chevening’s operational and promotional materials, revealing the UK’s implicit and explicit goals, including diplomatic interests, soft power strategies, and postcolonial dynamics.
Relevance to CIES 2025 Theme
The CIES 2025 theme, "Envisioning Education in a Digital Society," examines how digital platforms shape educational narratives and practices. The Chevening Scholarship program relies on digital platforms for the recruitment of students, engagement, and global promotion. Digital platforms such as the Chevening website and its official social media accounts are strategically used to spread messages about social change, development and leadership, therefore impacting the perceptions of the UK's soft power. This study will reveal how Chevening’s digital platforms advance the UK's soft power and diplomacy through education within a postcolonial context.
Theoretical Framework
This study is grounded in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), as developed by Fairclough (2013), and postcolonial theory. CDA is used to uncover how ideologies and power dynamics embedded in discourse shape the meaning of the Chevening program and reflect the UK's goals of developmental aid and foreign policy. This approach examines how discourse conveys messages about the program’s goals, expectations, and ideologies within a broader socio-political and cultural context. Postcolonial theory, drawing on Said (1978) and Bhabha (1994), reveals how postcolonial powers maintain influence through educational and cultural mechanisms, especially over former colonies or less developed countries. Given the historical use of scholarships as tools of colonial-imperial powers, the Chevening Scholarship can be seen as part of a postcolonial diplomatic strategy, positioning students from less developed countries as development agents aligned with the UK’s geopolitical goals. This study will explore how Chevening’s discourse reflects the UK's soft power and postcolonial legacy, using education as a diplomatic tool in a digital and postcolonial world.
Research Questions
1. How are the goals and expectations of the Chevening Scholarship Program articulated in its promotional and operational discourses?
2. What ideologies and power dynamics, particularly of a postcolonial nature, are embedded in these discourses?
Methodology
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is employed to explore the Chevening Scholarship Program’s online presence, official statements and promotional documents. The analysis focuses on mission statements, promotional content, and scholar-related narratives. Data collection involves identifying key imagery, phrases, and themes that articulate the goals and representations of the Chevening program. Fairclough’s (2013) three-dimensional CDA model guides this approach:
• Textual Analysis: Examines how Chevening portrays leadership and scholarship via word choice, metaphors, and story frameworks in its advertising materials. It focusses on rhetoric referring to "future leaders," "change-makers," and "global citizens."
• Discourse Practice: Investigates how these discourses are produced and distributed through Chevening’s digital media platforms, exploring how social media strategies shape message reception and audience engagement.
• Social Practice: Places the discourse within larger historical and socio-political contexts, focusing on how language reflects postcolonial ties between the UK and participant nations (e.g., Ghana, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Peru).
Findings (Work in Progress)
The Critical Discourse Analysis is ongoing. Preliminary findings suggest that the discourse surrounding the Chevening Scholarship emphasizes leadership and development, aligning with the UK's geopolitical objectives. Early research indicates that terms like "global citizens" and "future leaders" are strategically used to enhance the UK's soft power. Further investigation will deepen understanding of how postcolonial narratives are integrated into the scholarship’s marketing materials.
Implications and Contribution
The results will underscore the need for a critical examination of power relations in international scholarships mediated through digital platforms. The study will provide insights into how global education initiatives like Chevening perpetuate or challenge postcolonial ideas in the digital era. It will highlight the ethical responsibility of these initiatives to address past inequalities in global leadership and mobility, rather than reinforcing them. By combining Critical Discourse Analysis with postcolonial theory, this research offers a unique perspective on how language and power interact in educational programs, revealing underlying ideologies and promoting a more ethical understanding of international education.
Conclusion
This Critical Discourse Analysis demonstrates that narratives about global leadership and development are significantly shaped by the Chevening Scholarship. However, postcolonial power structures and ideologies, which prioritize Western viewpoints and control over international mobilities, continue to impact these narratives. Addressing the ethical implications of these power dynamics is crucial, especially as digital technologies increasingly influence educational interactions and affect scholars from the Global South.

Author

• Hatice KARAKUS, University of Glasgow