The proliferation of international schools: implications for educational stratification

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article applies positional conflict theory to investigate how the proliferation of international schools can create a new layer of educational stratification and deepen inequality of opportunity. Data from five international schools in metropolitan centres across southern China were collected through interviews, school visits, and a survey. The findings demonstrate how international schooling can enable local middle-class students to accumulate distinctive forms of positional advantages that are geared towards global higher education and careers in the global economy. The implications are threefold: (1) demonstrating how international schools can exacerbate educational divides, (2) revealing the nature of advantages created by international schooling, and (3) illuminating how international schooling can reposition students in a global class structure while potentially creating barriers within local/national contexts. The article concludes by calling for more critical attention to the ongoing expansion of international schools.