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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Cultural Capital and Distinction: Malaysian Students and Recent Graduates of UK International Tertiary Education I Lin Sin A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the PhD in Sociology The University of Edinburgh 2013 Declaration of Original Authorship I declare that the thesis has been composed by me and that the work is entirely my own. The work has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. A small section of the thesis was recently published in the special issue on Education and Social Mobility in the British Journal of Sociology of Education (Vol. 34, No. 5-6, pp. 848-867). ________________________ I Lin Sin i Contents Declaration of Original Authorship i Acknowledgments v Abstract vii Glossary of Abbreviations ix 1 Exploring Cultural Capital and Distinction 1 Addressing Gaps in the Study of Foreign Cultural Capital and Distinction 1 International Education, Meritocracy and Social Exclusion 3 Theoretical and Personal Influences 5 Outline of Thesis 7 2 Cultural Capital, UK International Education and Distinction 9 Review of Theories, Concepts and Studies Cultural Capital and Personalised Capital 9 Changing Forms of Exclusion in Tertiary Education and Graduate 13 Employment Foreign Cultural Capital 19 Intra-Class Stratification in Relation to Middle-Class Accumulation of 24 Capitals Sense of Place Belonging and Implications for Life Chance Pathways 26 Culturalist and Neo-Weberian Interpretations of the Middle Class 32 3 Higher Education, Equity and Inequality in Malaysia 37 Socio-Demographic, Cultural and Political Overview 37 Education System and Routes to Tertiary Education 39 Migration of the Highly Educated and Skilled 43 Meritocracy and Social Exclusion 44 4 Methodology and Research Design 48 Qualitative Interviewing within an Interpretivist Framework 48 Offshore and Transnational Students 49 Offshore and Transnational Graduates 50 Onshore Graduates 51 Method and Sampling Procedures and Techniques 51 Setting, Transcription and Analysis 56 Ethical Issues 59 5 Gradations of Value, and Legitimacy, of Cultural Capital 61 Cultural Capital Activities before Tertiary Education 61 ii A Degree as an Enabler and Indicator of Middle Class Status 64 Intrinsic and Instrumental Valuation of Quality Education 67 Hierarchies of Country Providers, Institutions and Modes of Study 68 Hierarchies based on Institutional and Subject Rankings 79 Academic Worth based on Institutional Habitus 81 Academic Worth based on Campus Features and Social Mix 86 Parental Expectations and Peer Acceptability 94 6 Status Privilege, and Disadvantage 102 Symbolic Worth of Study Destinations and Institutions 102 Comparison against Others and Implications on Self Worth and Self 105 Presentation Relative Advantages of Local Cultural Capital Ownership 120 Relative Disadvantages of Foreign Cultural Capital Ownership 125 Negative Convertibility of Cultural Capital in Malaysia 128 Negative Convertibility of Cultural Capital in the UK 136 Advantages of Living in the Home Environment 141 7 Life Chance Factors Operating Beyond Cultural Capital 146 Labour Market Inclusion and Exclusion by Age 146 Labour Market Inclusion and Exclusion by Ethnicity in Malaysia 152 Labour Market Inclusion and Exclusion by Ethnicity in the UK 161 Labour Market Inclusion and Exclusion by Nationality 162 Labour Market Inclusion and Exclusion by Gender and the Gendered Body 167 The Body and Impression Management 173 Belief in Individual Choice and Will as a Means to Securing 179 Economic Advantage 8 Limits to the Significance of Cultural Capital in Life 182 Beyond Direct Utilisation of Cultural Capital 182 Distinction Relative to Different Reference Groups 183 Personal and Social Dimensions to Cultural Capital Utilisation 187 Regulating Distinction based on Intersecting Principles and Values 188 9 Cultural Capital and Distinction: A Context Dependent Relationship 193 Summary of Research Purpose, Aims and Findings 193 Contributions to the Understanding of Cultural Capital 196 Shortcomings and Future Directions 199 Expanding Global Education Marketplace and Positional Possibilities 201 iii Appendices Appendix A: Profile of the Offshore and Transnational Student Sample 206 Appendix B: Profile of the Offshore and Transnational Graduate Sample 207 Appendix C: Profile of the Onshore Graduate Sample 208 Appendix D: Interview Guide for the Offshore and Transnational Student Sample 209 Appendix E: Interview Guide for the Offshore and Transnational Graduate Sample 212 Appendix F: Interview Guide for the Onshore Graduate Sample 215 Appendix G: Information Sheet 218 Appendix H: Consent Form 219 Bibliography 220 iv Acknowledgements I occasionally wondered how it would feel to have writing finalised. Now that I am here, the feeling is a mixture of relief, excitement, fulfilment and immense gratitude. I thank both my supervisors, Ross Bond and Prof. Janette Webb, for their dedication, support and patience throughout the course of my studies. I value their detailed constructive comments on my drafts and their many thought-inspiring discussions with me. I must also thank my Masters and Honours supervisors, Prof. James Nazroo from the University of Manchester and Dr. Joanna Sikora from the Australian National University, for guiding me well at earlier stages of my academic journey and for believing in my potential to do a PhD. My gratitude to the Graduate School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh for awarding me the Graduate School Scholarship and the Overseas Research Student Award which helped lighten the financial and emotional burden of studying abroad. I appreciate various forms of assistance during my fieldwork in Malaysia and the UK. In Malaysia, I received assistance from The Honourable Tony Pua MP, Jing Shen Tan, Fabian Fidelis, Dr. Suan Pow Yeoh, Mei Ching Lim, Chee Siang Lim, Julius Cheah, Dr. Yeh Han Poh, Li Kai Yip, Huey Shin Loh, Ann Teoh and the staff at KDU Petaling Jaya, Sivananthan Chelliah from APIIT, Nilesh Thomas from ICOM, Siew Fun Tang, Daphne Lim and Catherine Lee from Taylor’s University and Dr. Wee Gin Lim and Prof. Dino Isa from the University of Nottingham, Malaysia. I acknowledged help in the UK from Chee Mun Chan, Shannon Teoh, Catherine Nga, Zaki Annuar, Senthil Gandhi and Alex Lee. My sincere thanks to my interviewees for their time and enthusiasm in sharing their life stories with me. I wish them well in their studies and careers. Thank you to the many others who have helped me directly and indirectly. I regret not being able to name everyone. v The Honourable Chin Tong Liew MP (Kluang, Malaysia) and Dr. Yee Tuan Wong have been a pillar of friendship and intellectual support from the start of my university education. I found a good source of comfort, support, laughter and good food in my friends and programme mates. My love to someone dear in my life (he is shy to be named) for his love and patience and for enforcing time away from writing which was needed at times. My deepest gratitude and appreciation go out to my parents, without whom, it would have been impossible to live out the dream of pursuing Sociology for this long and this far away from home. vi Abstract This thesis explores the role of foreign cultural capital, that is, Western knowledge, skills, dispositions and qualifications obtained through various modes of UK international tertiary education in facilitating social reproduction and mobility. The focus is on Malaysian young adults from middle-class backgrounds. It offers a critical exploration of the intricacies and contradictions surrounding the applicability of Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital in explaining occupational and status distinction across different geographical and socio-relational contexts in Malaysia and the UK. Drawing on interviews with three samples of Malaysian students and recent graduates of UK tertiary education, I explored the anticipation and experiences of the rewards and disadvantages of undertaking international education in the UK and Malaysia. I investigated the planned and executed strategies to secure superior employment and status. I studied the intersection of class with age, ethnicity, gender, nationality and religion in structuring educational and occupational choices, practices and experiences. I explored perceptions and feelings of worth that surrounded planned and actual practices of translating cultural capital to economic and social privileges. Studying overseas in an elite UK university was believed to offer the most privileged opportunities to gain better quality education, experience a higher valued culture, lifestyle, social mix and physical landscape in the West and independently embark on a journey