Social stratifying Kazakhstan: A Bourdieusian social reproduction analysis of higher education internationalisation

Abstract

This study addresses educational disparities faced by socioeconomically disadvantaged students, particularly in accessing international higher education in the post-Soviet region, focusing on Kazakhstan. While studies of social class formation in developing countries are inconclusive, the literature overwhelmingly shows that high socioeconomic groups dominate access to international education. In this qualitative study, we conducted semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires with 98 undergraduate and graduate students who accessed English language degrees at home and abroad. We used Bourdieu’s conceptual tool of embodied, objectified, and institutionalised cultural capital to demonstrate how (1) educational resources in the home country, (2) English language proficiency, and (3) access to international English higher education function as pillars of social class reproduction. We argue that the process is skewed in favour of students from privileged classes and that the pursuit of meritocratic policies only reinforces elites’ capital accumulation and promotes social stratification.