Seeking 'the foreign stamp': International education and the (re)production of class status in Mumbai, India

Abstract

International education is an increasingly popular life choice for young, urban Indians. Academic scholarship has shown growing interest in where, how and why Indians study overseas. However, many of these studies overlook the role that class status plays in shaping how students from India imagine and experience international education and its outcomes as they transition into adulthood. Studies of India's middle classes, on the other hand, have tended to omit the importance of transnational mobility in producing class status. This thesis therefore explores the complex relationships between how international education is imagined and experienced, and how class status is (re)produced in Mumbai, India. Using data gathered from 80 in-depth interviews in Mumbai in which participants discussed their perceptions of international education, its value and its outcomes, I argue that there are significant nuances in how the value of international education is perceived, embodied and made distinct within the granular class hierarchies that constitute the urban upper-middle class and elite. I focus on prospective and returned students situated at 'home', which provides a unique perspective given international student mobility literature's tendency to focus on the experiences of existing students. Using Bourdieu's (1984, 1986) theory of class reproduction as a starting point, I discuss how various forms of capital - especially cosmopolitan cultural capital (Igarashi & Saito, 2014) - are accumulated both prior to and during international education, and how capital informs experiences of return to India.

Specifically, I argue that there are two distinct imaginaries and experiences of international education in the Mumbai context which correspond to the localised class identity of the individual seeking international education. On one hand, the South Bombay or 'SoBo' elite seek to maintain their existing privilege by engaging with international education in order to acquire 'the stamp' of having spent time overseas, which 'finishes' them as young adults and poises them as 'ready' to engage in adult life in the same elite context in India in which they were raised. On the other hand, 'suburban strivers' engage with international education with a desire to seek upward mobility but they do not seek to mimic the lifestyles or behaviours of the SoBo elite. Rather, suburban strivers pursue a transformative experience that promises to change the trajectories of their lives, especially in relation to career options but also in terms of their lived experiences. These divergent approaches to engaging with international education permeate the way that individuals imagine and experience international education, impacting their mobility trajectories, career aspirations and decisions about when and who to marry. Ultimately, this thesis highlights the importance of examining class in relation to international student mobilities, and transnational mobility in relation to the study of class in India, especially in relation to the urban upper-middle class and elite.