Re/producing the global middle class: International baccalaureate alumni at “world class” universities in Hong Kong

Re/producing the global middle class: International baccalaureate alumni at “world class” universities in Hong Kong

• Wright, Ewan Thomas Mansell The Education University of Hong Kong

CESHK Spring Conference 2019: Sustainable Development and Comparative Education: Goals, Reification and Heresies (2019: The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

• Q Philosophy of Education, Educational System & School At Different Levels
  • QE Post-Secondary Education

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Post-Secondary Education

This research investigated educational pathways into a Global Middle Class characterised by professional or managerial careers, cosmopolitan sensibilities, and global mobility. The focus was upper middle-class International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) alumni at universities in Hong Kong. 42 in-depth interviews were conducted with IBDP alumni at two “world-class” Hong Kong universities. Findings illuminated how students were well-positioned for careers associated with the Global Middle Class. Despite growing up in expatriate and local families across a diversity of countries, most IBDP alumni discussed self-perceptions of cosmopolitan sensibilities, a close-knit social clique based around a globalised identity, participation in globally-oriented extracurricular activities, and global economic futures. Nevertheless, there were paradoxes of cosmopolitan sensibilities as the IBDP alumni perceived a lack of belonging to the universities and a disconnection with the local society. Copyright © 2019 CESHK Spring Conference.

Paper presented at the CESHK Spring Conference 2019: Sustainable Development and Comparative Education: Goals, Reification and Heresies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

• English

Conference Papers

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/2223616f

2020-01-06