Re/producing the global middle class: International Baccalaureate alumni at ‘world-class’ universities in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

This research investigated educational pathways into a Global Middle Class characterised by professional or managerial careers and cosmopolitan sensibilities. The focus was International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) alumni with upper-middle-class backgrounds at ‘world-class’ universities in Hong Kong. The first objective was to investigate if and how the education of IBDP alumni at Hong Kong universities shapes self-perceptions of cosmopolitan sensibilities, university experiences, and economic futures. The second objective was to investigate how the IBDP and Hong Kong universities offer an educational pathway for the existing Global Middle Class to reproduce their social position and for local families to enter the Global Middle Class. Interview findings illuminated how cosmopolitan sensibilities meant that the students may be well-positioned for careers and lifestyles of the Global Middle Class. Nevertheless, there were paradoxes of cosmopolitan sensibilities as the students perceived a lack of belonging to their universities and a disconnection with the local society.

KEYWORDS:

• Global middle class
• cosmopolitan sensibilities
• international Baccalaureate
• East Asian higher education

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgement

We appreciate the valuable comments and suggestions from the referees. We are also grateful to the International Baccalaureate Organization for providing financial support for this research project. The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Baccalaureate Organization.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Measured in 2011 purchasing power parity terms.

2. The data were gathered from 126 private IBDP schools that publicly display tuition fees on school websites. This included schools in Shanghai (15 schools), Beijing (15 schools), Ho Chi Minh City (7 schools), Seoul (3 schools), Singapore (21 schools), Taipei (2 schools), Hong Kong (24 schools), Bangkok (9 schools), Tokyo (7 schools), Kuala Lumpur (8 schools), Jakarta (8 schools), and Manila (7 schools).

3. As an exception, one student attended an international school overseas before returning to their home country to take the IBDP at an international school.

4. In Hong Kong, the IBDP is offered by both local private schools that primarily serve the local population and private international schools that typically have a more internationally diverse student body.

5. The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education is a public examination administered by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority.

6. The terms global-mindedness and cultural sensitivity were generated as thematic codes in the analysis of interview data. As part of the same project, a validated online survey instrument reaffirmed the findings. IBDP alumni at one case university in Hong Kong self-reported significantly higher levels in measures of global-mindedness and cultural sensitivity compared with their non-IBDP counterparts (see Lee et al., 2017).

7. The organisation is known worldwide as ‘AIESEC’, which is an acronym for Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales.