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Abstract

This paper reports the motivations of middle-class Asian students who choose German universities of applied sciences under the third wave of international student mobility. It aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the students’ qualitative experiences in Asian countries that influenced their preference for German universities of applied sciences and their expectations of their German degree as cultural capital. The research analyzes the family, school, peer experiences of 23 Asian students currently enrolled in a German university of applied sciences to understand their motivations for choosing this type of institution and Germany. The findings reveal that the cultural capital that influenced their choice includes differentiation strategies of middle-class students, reasonable education investment choices of Asian students, and the use of a German degree as a trump card in the labor market. The study provides implications for the development of international higher education by connecting Asian students’ aspirations for global cultural capital to a complex and atypical structure that encompasses global, national, and individual dimensions simultaneously.

Keywords

cultural capital educational mobility educational aspiration Asian students higher education

Introduction

The link between education and middle-class international mobility for higher education has long been established, with researchers arguing that elite or exclusive forms of education could be used as cultural capital to maintain and improve middle-class social status (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990; Smala et al., 2013). Based on Bourdieu (1984), superior knowledge, disposition and educational credentials are believed to have exchange value: they could be converted into economic and symbolic capital and help individuals to gain access to competitive global jobs (Waters, 2006). Recently, the demand for international higher education has increased due to the rise of knowledge-based and innovation-driven economics (Van Bouwel & Veugelers, 2013). Moreover, greater wealth of growing middle-class families promotes more opportunities for their children to study abroad (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2021).

Much of previous research has focused on the exchange value of cultural capital gained through international higher education in English-speaking countries (Jones & de Wit, 2012). Without a doubt, higher educational institutions in English-speaking countries have been very attractive to international students, but recently, non-English-speaking countries such as Germany have also become popular for international students to pursue higher education (OECD, 2022). Interestingly, according to Germany’s international student mobility data (around 137,000 international students studied at GUAS in the summer semester of 2021. https://www.daad.de/en/study-and-research-in-germany/plan-your-studies/hawfh), which is outside of Germany’s historical top universities, international students are enrolling in German universities of applied sciences (GUAS) at a rapid pace. Among them, Asian students have been the largest group enrolled in German higher educational institutions in the past decades (Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik & Grote, 2019).

This study explores the rise in Asian middle-class students who seek cultural capital by enrolling in international higher education programs in GUAS and their international mobility. We performed qualitative study with semi-structured interviews to collect data from Asian students who have studied at GUAS to explore their learning experiences. We focused on the following research question: what is the perceived role of cultural capital, which Asian students obtain through transnational education in GUAS, in facilitating international mobility?

Literature Review

The Distinct Strategy of Asian Middle-Class Students: Pursue International Higher Education

For the past 20 years, Asian countries have sought to cultivate and circulate elites and to gain knowledge from throughout the world. This endeavour involves encouraging promising students to receive a higher education from foreign countries and then return to support domestic economic development (Collins & Ho, 2018; Daniels et al., 2012). The international education mobility of Asian students is based on the recent expansion and growth of the international education market and the demand for people with a world-class education. The experience of studying abroad, which was previously a product of the so-called “privileged class” has gradually begun to reach the middle class. As it has expanded, it has formed a new paradigm of international education mobility (Waters, 2008).

The traditional reason for choosing to study had been considered a strategy to secure academic qualifications and to reproduce social status by maintaining the scarcity of the upper class through international academic qualification (Smala et al., 2013). Hence, there was a phenomenal increase in educational demand and a rise in educational level triggered by increased investment of upper-class parents in their children’s education (Bourdieu, 1984). This phenomenon of inflating educational qualifications has led to a decline in the value of academic qualifications that can sustain their social reproduction in the upper classes, a phenomenon that has been accompanied by the expansion of higher education in Asia. For example, the number of university students in China increased from 2.91 million in 1995 to 28 million in 2018. Therefore, university degrees do not provide the same symbolic value and cultural capital as they did in the 1980s (Mok, 2016). This academic inflation has provided middle-class students with access to new educational strategies that were previously hard for them to reach. Indeed, they have gained access to international education opportunities from which they had been “excluded” because they had been considered a niche opportunity to acquire new classes (Findlay, 2011). At the same time, economic (e.g., the cost of international flights), technological (e.g., the spread of the Internet and social media, enabling communication across borders) and cultural (e.g., using English as a common language in business and education) factors have made international study more accessible than in the past (Doyle et al., 2010).

As educational opportunities for middle-class students have increased, they have relied more on pursuing international higher education degrees. Based on their narratives, overseas graduates believe that foreign qualifications have become more valuable than local qualifications. They have also highlighted that an international education increases their competitiveness in the labour market because of the institutionalised form of cultural capital as well as foreign language proficiency (Waters, 2006). For middle-class students, the importance of studying abroad stems from the fact that they have low expectations for inheriting social and cultural capital from their parents and they also want to acquire academic qualifications (Bourdieu, 1984). Studying abroad enables the middle class to reap the maximum benefits of an international education because they obtain cultural capital that can be transformed into economic capital in the globalised labour market (López-Duarte et al., 2021; Pásztor, 2015; Tran, 2016; Van Bouwel & Veugelers, 2013). Therefore, middle-class students develop their educational desire to accumulate capital as a strategy to gain a competitive advantage in the labour market and to obtain their preferred job.

This brief review of previous research provides a context of cultural capital and the international mobility of higher education and highlights the importance of this study. Although the relationship between cultural capital and international mobility has been widely discussed, few researchers have explored international mobility to non-English-speaking countries. In this study, we evaluate the new paradigm of international education mobility to Germany, specifically to GUAS rather than traditional German higher education institutions.

Reasonable Educational Investment Choices of Asian Students

When selecting a country to obtain an education, Asian students have shown a preference for countries with a high economic, cultural and social reputation, such as Europe and the Americas, rather than simply selecting a country for its functional role as a destination to acquire academic capital. J. Kim (2011) studied the choice of middle-upper-class Korean international students to study in the United States from the perspective of cultural capital. In particular, he evaluated the academic production structure and degree of U.S. universities—called “the centre of global learning” in Korean society—where the hierarchical order between universities is deepening. Overall, U.S. and European degrees have a symbolic meaning as capital and they are considered more distinctive and valuable to Asian students. Based on the globalisation of cultural capital, degrees or knowledge awarded by a country have the property of transcending the national scope. This phenomenon underscores that the structures that are complexly intertwined with global and local dimensions, not only individual desire (J. Kim, 2011). Indeed, the international competitiveness of students does not simply rely on their personal globalisation capabilities; it also depends greatly on the evaluation of the institution or country that has cultivated them. For this reason, the desire to attend high-profile educational institutions abroad has increased in Asia, and students choose their destinations for international higher education based on a country’s reputation of higher education institutions, cultural life and international relations (Chen & Bang, 2020).

In the past, there was a preference for traditional English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada due to the ability to improve to acquire and improve the ability to speak English (Borghetti & Beaven, 2017; Tommasini et al., 2017; Wells, 2014). However, the preference of Asian students for European countries has been high for the past decade (Beerkens et al., 2016; Powell & Finger, 2013; Souto-Otero et al., 2013). This change indicates an alternative form of globalisation in which their migration to study at the edge of privileged knowledge does not oppose dominant structures, such as the global spread and use of English (Hickey, 2018). Based on the students’ preference for language diversity and the education migration phenomena, reforms have been implemented at the national level that aim to lower barriers to migration for highly skilled individuals beyond educational purposes. In addition, most countries run funding programmes to support the return of students to avoid a potential brain drain (Brooks, 2018). The great preference for studying in Germany among the European countries lies in Germany’s valuable educational policies and history (OECD, 2022). Asian middle-class students hope that a degree will provide cultural capital that manifests a competitive edge in the labour market. They have a desire for combining the highly developed professional engineering skills and academics in Germany (Cebolla-Boado et al., 2018; Jiang, 2013; J. Kim, 2011; Tsang, 2013; Wang, 2020). These considerations lead many middle-class students from Asia to enrol in prominent GUAS, where they can receive more professional expertise. In the past few years the rate of overseas students at GUAS has reached 40%, more than double that of those who went to general universities in Germany. This suggests that Germany has world-class universities as well as internationally renowned universities of applied science (UAS) (Ashour, 2018).

It is important to gain an in-depth understanding of the international mobility of Asian middle-class students to GUAS. Indeed, little is known about why Asian students have shifted from English-speaking countries for education to Germany, especially to GUAS. In the current study, we consider the exchange value of cultural capital as a major reason behind the international mobility of middle-class students: it provides them with a way to improve their economic and social status (Bourdieu et al., 1977; Smala et al., 2013).

Context of GUAS

The main attraction of GUAS is the combination of university-level academic knowledge and higher skills (Murdoch et al., 2016). This combination of academic and vocational education is a well-known feature of the German education system. GUAS focus on the application of science, including the practical components of student education. GUAS provide both higher education qualifications to help students gain socially recognised jobs and practical skills to help students transition more smoothly and to enter the labour market (Reinhold & Thomsen, 2017).

In the late 1960s, the German education system underwent some reforms, one of which was the granting of higher education status to former vocational schools. This type of institution (Fachhochschule) teaches students application-oriented subjects. After this change, there were still some differences between these UAS and existing universities. Most importantly, degrees earned at UAS were nominally different from degrees awarded by universities. However, this changed with the 1999 Bologna reforms, an attempt to unify the educational environment of many European countries. Currently, the German education system, equipped with such specialized vocational education institutions and systems, is recognised worldwide, and multinational companies that have entered Germany have contributed to the country’s reputation among local citizens (Kowalczyk & Kucharska, 2020).

An important factor that attracts international students to settle in Germany is that university tuition is very low in most states (Carlson, 2013). Hence, Germany’s diverse and advanced educational history and system, affordable living environment and excellence in vocational education in GUAS make it an especially advantageous choice for middle-class students.

For Asian students, studying at GUAS provides academic capital and meets their diverse interests for gain technological skills in an advanced country. Currently, many Asian countries are trying to integrate Germany’s vocational education and training with their own expertise (Hummelsheim & Baur, 2014). In this regard, Asian middle-class students expect that the academic capital they obtain by attending GUAS will give them priority in obtaining a job in the labour market. Based on recent studies (Chen & Bang, 2020; Jiani, 2017; S. Kim & Zhang, 2021; Petzold & Moog, 2018), capital has properties that transcend national boundaries and territories. Thus, the increase in middle-class students studying abroad is not simply due to rising economic indicators; it is also due to the interplay between individual, institutional and national factors that have brought them to their destination countries (Collins & Ho, 2018).

For this study, we began by asking why more and more Asian students have chosen to get an international education in Germany rather than other countries. In addition, if previous mobility experiences indeed raises the likelihood of going abroad, it is necessary to connect the actual study-related moves to previous life phases and mobility experiences in order to understand how corresponding motivations are formed and bring student mobility (Carlson, 2013, p. 169). We also wondered what kind of global capital Asian middle-class studies expect from GUAS. Based on these questions, we aimed to show how the meaning of studying in Germany from the sociocultural point of view of Asian students is related to their cultural capital through the relationship with academic background (degree) as cultural capital. Specifically, we examined the narratives of Asian middle-class students to determine how their previous experiences have led to their educational aspirations and expectations for the cultural capital they will acquire through studies at GUAS, and in what context it will be operated.

Methodology

We used a qualitative research methodology because our main purpose of this study is to explore why Asian students choose GUAS. Qualitative research aims at exploring, understanding and interpreting the experiences of participants (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Specifically, we explored the personal stories, professional aspirations, cultural background and community experiences of Asian studies who have attended GUAS.

Setting and Recruitment of Participants

We selected GUAS with the highest ratio of Asian and international students. We selected Asian students who are attending GUAS currently or who had obtained a GUAS degree. We recruited 23 Asian students based on purposive sampling and snowballing sampling technique in 10 months (March–December 2021) until we reached data saturation. The inclusion criterion was the participant had to have completed high school in their home country and then decided to study in Germany for tertiary education. Of the 23 participants, seven are from China, eight are from Malaysia, six are from India and two are from Korea (born and raised in their home countries and then went to Germany to study). By gender distribution, there are 13 male students and 10 female students. The majors are mechatronics (n = 8), mechanical engineering (n = 5) and vehicle engineering (n = 7). They age range is from 21 to 27 years. Their mothers’ occupations are housewife (n = 20), general business worker (n = 1), consultant (n = 1) and accountant (n = 1). Their fathers’ occupations are general office workers (n = 18), business owner (selling consumables, n = 2), sailor (n = 1) and craftsman (n = 2). Of the parents, 13 were middle school graduates and the rest were high school graduates. We explained the purpose and nature of this study to participants, including that their information would remain confidential. All participants signed the informed consent form.

Research Methods and Analysis

Interviewing is one of the effective methods to understand an individual’s perception and one of the most applied techniques in qualitative research (Mason, 2017; Patton, 1990). Hence, we chose to interview the participants. A semi-structured interview allows participants flexibility to tell the stories that are meaningful to them (Mason, 2002). By telling the stories of their past experiences and life, they could form semantic structures for their experiences (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). The process of narrative research can also be treated as an interaction between the subjects and the researchers. We asked the students open-ended questions to get them to describe their past experiences and interactions that led to study in Germany, as well as their expectations and hopes related to their motivations. This approach allowed us to investigate deeply and broadly the important factors that affect the interest and willingness to study abroad at GUAS.

We recorded and transcribed the collected interview data and examined it with a thematic analysis approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006). To identify common topics, we performed analysis horizontally across the reconstructed data and vertically to highlight individual differences (Creswell, 2007). We used inductive and deductive processes for data analysis. Based on the narratives, we identified several common narrative themes: (1) why did the Asian students chose to pursue higher education programmes in GUAS? (2) What kind of experience built the students’ awareness of international mobility to obtain higher education? (3) How did the students become aware of GUAS? (4) What are/were the students’ expectations from GUAS? The theory of cultural capital guided the data analysis because we intentionally sought to obtain data related to the exchange value of cultural capital and Asian students’ international mobility in GUAS. We also searched for relationships among those themes to perform an in-depth analysis. Both authors independently coded the data. These data were compared, revised and reviewed by other two peer researchers to ensure they all interpreted the data in the same way.

Findings

Recognition of the Superiority of Global Education Through “Lived Experience”

Previous experience with overseas educational programs was a natural motivator for the students. A variety of activities and experiences from previous schooling had provided the students with talent-finding experiences that sparked their interest in their major and practical learning. Some students had already attended exchange programs in high school, which allowed them experience a different culture and education. Some students had engaged in previous hands-on courses in high school to explore their learning interests. This previous international experience can stimulate the students’ interest and preference for learning abroad.

Especially when I was younger (…) and there were a lot of projects where we had to maybe build like small little machines, not very sophisticated. And also I did a summer school at NASA in the U.S. for a week. So I really learned a lot about engineering there. And I got to build like rockets and things like this. And they really sort of inspired me to go forward with engineering and studying abroad. (Emma)

In addition, the participants had obtained information about studying abroad from their diverse networks (family, friends, seniors, and juniors) as well as their previous international experiences at school. This information provided an opportunity to find a compromise between the expectations regarding studying abroad and the reality based on the experiences of family members and friends who had graduated from or attended GUAS

…more on someone who you can say that some seniors were visiting our college in Malaysia. So, we’ve been asking how to find the university and so on. And then they explained to us the experience, and that’s why I find that studying in FH Achen is also a very good choice. (Jason)

These students could communicate with their friends and family members (e.g., brothers or sisters) who had already attended GUAS. This information could decrease their anxiety and fear of the unknown. While they might have been aware of the status of a European degree in Asian countries, the success of their friends and family after graduation enabled them to see first-hand how a European degree provides advantages in Asian countries.

In particular, these previous school experiences and interactions provided solutions to various factors about which they were most concerned when considering studying abroad—such as adaptation to a new environment, economic problems and finding a job after graduation—while also providing affordable alternatives. Furthermore, in the process of being embodied as an internal part (e.g., taste and attitude) in the form of habitus, it created a familiarity with studying abroad and the German educational sphere, which had the biggest initial influence on the consideration to study abroad. What is important is that the experiences of friends and family empirically revealed how cultural capital appears and is acknowledged in different social contexts and structures. This finding mirrors other studies that underscore the social rather than individual nature of young people’s decisions to study overseas (Brooks & Waters, 2010; Green et al., 2015; Singh et al., 2007).

According to Bourdieu (1987), the middle class’s sense of boundaries has become much less constrained with respect to the past. They have experienced ambiguous social relationships and hierarchies, giving them considerable hope for their academic qualifications.

I believe my life is much more hopeful after graduating from a university in Germany. It is definitely different from other people (…) Because people who study abroad in Germany like this are not common, I believe that my study abroad experience will be of great help to my social success. That’s the only part of my life where I feel different from normal people. (Olivia)

This experience has given them the idea they could constantly innovate their status: they are not limited to their current status. As middle-class students have learned about the positive prospects of the people around them who have attended GUAS, the adjustment between the objective opportunity and subjective hope given to them has been forced more subtly. Rather than feeling the risk and anxiety, they have acquired a sense of distinction through their own education, accepting a vague image of their current position but at the same time not acknowledging their limitations.

Recognition of the Optimal Global Location (for Class Movement): Germany’s Universal Recognition is Enviable

Before coming to Germany, most of the participants had a good impression of the country due to its strong reputation around the world. For example, German’s education and products are considered to be high quality. Moreover, they admired the famous combination of theoretical teaching and practical training in Germany (Hummelsheim & Baur, 2014). The students believed that learning in GUAS could provide them with high-quality tertiary education alongside more practical skills training, which could help them to get familiar with the real-world work environment before entering the labour market.

Germany has a very good image in the world; [it] is a developed country and it is an advanced country with a lot of good engineering majors. What’s more, Germany is quite famous for its “made in Germany” things: their cars, even the kitchen materials, like the pots, their knives. (Helen)

The university of applied science, I knew, has a very good reputation and quality for major of engineering and paid more attention to the practice of courses. (David)

Most of the students expected to learn German by studying in Germany. Taking on new challenges caused anxiety, but they also expected that studying German would be a huge advantage with respect to their global competence. In the past, the status of English had been strengthened due to the accelerated trend of obtaining an education from an English-speaking country; hence, the acquisition of English proficiency has played a major role in modern cultural capital. In modern society, however, globalization has accelerated, and the participants thought that acquiring German language skills would give them an advantage in the global market.

Maybe Germany will have a better education, and I think learning a new language is also good choice. (David)

So for me, I have interest to study German as well as why and I believe learning a new language will be an advantage for me. (Fiona)

Moreover, while living in Germany and learning German, the participants anticipated they would experience various European cultures. They had come to Germany to focus on studying and to experience cultural activities that are different from those in their home country. In particular, European football is famous and revered all over the world, and the possibility of experiencing these world-famous attractions first-hand was a factor in their choosing to study in Germany. Bourdieu’s explanation of what is considered cultural capital is based on the concept of high culture in France in the 20th century. However, global cultural flow is not as fixed as Bourdieu deduced. In this regard, Brooks and Waters (2010) propose mobility capital as another new and very valuable form of capital. They define mobility capital as something that can improve individual skills through abundant international experiences gained from overseas life and argue that it provides significant advantages in today’s globalised world. The participants considered that by living and studying in their home country they would be a babe in the woods. Thus, living in Germany, which is considered a developed country in Asia, represented a very attractive option for them

I want to experience this aspect and stay in this environment for a while. There are also some more civilised ones like German football. (Kavin)

In addition to obtaining a German degree as a form of cultural capital, the participants also adopted a strategy that gave greater value and meaning to German proficiency and various experiences they had gained in Germany. For example, they attributed considerable value to various experiences in Germany (network formation with German people, part-time jobs, various school activities, etc.), thinking that such experiences would be useful for their own growth or the possibility to learn competencies that would help them in the future. This global cultural experience represents a new dimension of cultural capital.

Use as a Trump Card in the Labour Field

Currently, many fields of expertise and sectors of life are not dependent on or subordinate to a country’s boundaries (Bigo, 2011). Ultimately, a decisive factor that brought the students to study in Germany was their hope of boosting their prospects in the labour market after graduation. McKinsey and Stifterverband (2015) found that a growing number of companies in Germany especially want to employ university graduates who have abundant global experience. Moreover, many international graduates hope to get their first job in Germany.

With the high reputation of a GUAS degree, students are more competitive in the future labour market or have a greater chance to pursue higher education; they can obtain a university-level bachelor’s degree, real practical skills and a social network. The students thought there would be many obstacles to studying abroad in an unfamiliar foreign language, but their well-founded confidence eventually led them to enter a German university. This conviction is based on various dimensions of privilege. Not only do these students have the ability to study abroad, but they can also imagine themselves doing so. According to Appadurai (1996), imagination is central to every form of agency. It is a social fact and a key element of the new global order. This conceptualized imagination is a form of labour (in the sense of labour and culturally organized practice) and a form of negotiation between the place of agency (individual) and the world-defined realm of possibility (Green et al., 2015).

Because there were some older seniors who returned to China after they graduated from FH… 10 years ago, they could directly enter the famous Auto factories, such as Changchun FAW or Shanghai FAW, some foreign suppliers in Nanjing are generally Sino-German joint ventures or wholly German-owned companies in China branch. They can all enter work directly and easily. (Aden)

The imagination/material world of these students has provided access to peer networks that function effectively as practice communities before they leave. These 23 students have been able to interact with internationally mobile individuals across a wide global network. As members of this community, they can contribute and reach the practice repertoire that is useful for global mobility by choosing tips and pointers that are not easily obtained through formal channels (Green et al., 2015).

In addition, while living in Germany, the students have learned and embodied not only German society and culture but Europe culture and living, which is different from Asian culture. They thought that their life experiences in Germany would be advantageous as a bridge for international communication with those who know German culture and the German language as well as their specific Asian culture and language in a workplace with German culture. Furthermore, GUAS normally provide a compulsory 6-month internship for students in real German companies, which helps students obtain real practical and work experience. Therefore, they expected that attending GUAS would provide an opportunity to acquire global social capital, such as a new international network, beyond simply learning the language and culture.

The half-year internship is equivalent to accumulating work experience in a German company and I will have some understanding of German companies. When I look for a job in the future, I won’t know anything; at least I have experienced it. The experience includes looking for an internship interview, and it is true that I have spent a lot of energy in this area. Just after that, looking for a job may not be so stressful. (Nancy)

On account of these various expectations and motivations, studying at GUAS could serve as a trump card in the future labour market. This means that the students could eventually develop a feel of the game that emerges from acquisition of capital, the specialized knowledge of a field which makes them to role as function and expect to function. Therefore, students are willing to participate in the game that Bourdieu mentions by using their various mobile forms of capital.

At this time, players agree—by the mere fact of playing and not by way of a contract—that the game is worth playing, that it is worth the candle (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992). Although some of the participants had unusual experiences that were in stark contrast to those of the other participants, we consider them to be willing to participate in the anticipation that an investment in the game will be well worth it and will bring new prospects. In the Discussion, we explicate the way this works and the structures that lead to the same decisions, although based on different types of capital.

Discussion

It is an important sociological issue to reveal how adult learners’ subjective aspirations and cultural capital are related to objective structures, such as social classes and educational systems (Livingstone & Sawchuk, 2000). We have reviewed and interpreted previous studies on the relationship between international student mobility and cultural capital in the context of countries (De Graaf et al., 2000; Holloway et al., 2012; Waters, 2006; Zhang & Xu, 2020) and analysed the motivations of Asian students who chose to attend GUAS based on their narratives to gain a broader global perspective.

Here, we analyze how the motivations of the participants are connected with various dimensions. The factors that made Asian students choose GUAS over studying in other countries include (1) interactions with their acquaintances, (2) the internalized habitus for academic capital of the middle class and the institutional dimension that recognises a GUAS degree provides prospects for success in the labour market and (3) the strong global reputation of Germany. Based on this perspectives, the factors that lead Asian students to choose GUAS are largely related to three dimensions: the global hierarchy of Germany and German universities in Asia, the structure/relation of academic background and social status in Asian society, and micro(scopic) interactions and habitus (Figure 1). It is necessary to consider the three dimensions simultaneously, relationally and multidimensionally to understand the motivation for studying in Germany revealed in the in-depth interviews.

Figure 1.

The three dimensions of motivation to study in Germany and their interactions.

First, if we look at the structural background of the decision of Asian students to study in Germany, we can see that it is naturally formed in the status of the country and the academic hierarchy of universities located in that country. As revealed from the in-depth interviews, the participants’ previous experiences through various channels went beyond having a positive perception of Germany. When they decided to study abroad, the national level became an important factor that they considered first. In addition, in the world university rankings, research-oriented and historical universities in advanced countries such as Germany generally occupy the upper ranks (Mazzarol et al., 2001). In particular, Germany’s vocational education-related system is so developed that it can be sampled in many places. This is connected with previous studies on student mobility regarding the reputation of German education (Aksakal et al., 2019; Bessey, 2012; Bilecen, 2016; Süoğlu, 2012).

In this study we found that going to GUAS, which particularly emphasise vocational and technical education, is different from attending UAS in Asia in terms of the value of the degree. This can differ depending on the perspective of education and how to distribute class through schools at the national level (Nash, 1990). Moreover, there are differences among universities depending on the type and amount of various capital that universities have. This result is also linked to the study by J. Kim (2011). He investigated the dependence of Korean college students on prestigious universities in the United States. He found that Korean students were greatly influenced by the reputation of universities in the United States. Thus, the global hierarchy framing the relationship between GUAS and Asian universities encourages Asian students to pursue studies in globally recognised fields of study rather than to stay in their home countries (Beine et al., 2014).

Second, depending on the historicity of the field, the circulation of power and the possibility of converting capitals coming from diverse fields are not only regulated by the state, but also by multiple operators/institutions and in multiple contexts (Bigo, 2005). Therefore, class and status structures, as well as job markets, are increasingly relevant to the potential for capital transition under the international stratification of higher education (J. Kim, 2011). Students believe that studying abroad in Germany will have a positive impact on their social, cultural and economic status and position when they return to their home country after graduation (Pyvis & Chapman 2007; Robertson et al., 2011). They believe that studying abroad in Germany will provide many alternatives when choosing their next move.

DeVoretz (2006) also highlighted other factors: the reputation of German universities, the relatively low cost of living and tuition fees and, above all, the ability to acquire cultural capital such as proficiency in German and being familiar with European culture and values (Waters, 2006). In particular, learning German is not just a way to communicate; it is an integrated learning tool that shows the person has a positive attitude and a great interest and willingness to assimilate into German society (Riemer, 2003).

Unlike other studies, we analyzed the narratives of international students regarding UAS rather than general universities, indicating that Asian middle-class students have the highest expectations (especially the possibility of forming an international network and learning professional skills) for a connection to the labour market. As a result, German degrees have great value in their home country’s labour market, and studying at GUAS provides students with practical skills training in a real working environment, helping them to enter the labour market more smoothly. In this process, they can convert accumulated cultural capital into economic capital. State agents are being increasingly replaced by financial markets in this global conversion of capital from different fields to compete globally for jobs (Bigo, 2011).

Third, the agency of foreign students as social actors and their way of becoming are mediated through their habitus (Tran, 2016). According to Dumenden and English (2013, p. 1080), habitus “functions as a principle that organises the action of an agent at the level of an individual agent.” Previous studies on the mobility of international students have repeatedly shown that a higher social class background and prior individual or family experience of geographic mobility increase the likelihood of going abroad (Heublein et al., 2008; Jahr et al., 2002; King et al., 2010; Lörz & Krawietz, 2011). The social position and other social factors of their parents greatly affect the international mobility of students (Holloway et al., 2012; Waters, 2012). The parents’ educational choices and strategies have a great influence, especially for the middle class (Azevedo et al., 2015; Findlay, 2011; Guo, 2010; Mulvey, 2021). However, an interesting fact revealed in our study is that middle-class students unconsciously and independently adopted studying abroad as their strategy through school-related experiences and their school networks rather than based on previous direct or indirect family experiences. For this phenomenon, the habitus of international students, conditioned based on previous schooling experiences, and the possibility of restructuring the habitus through transnational mobility are interconnected with the dynamic nature of their ‘becoming – global talent’ (Tran, 2016, pp. 1274–1275). Note that the habitus of international students is still a system of categories acquired during the course of personal growth and education; hence, their choice also exists within the limits of their own habitus.

Another interesting finding of this study is that as the demand for international students has steadily increased and education substitution strategies have shifted, the transboundary education experience is no longer an effective method of “distinction” as in the past. In other words, the participants in this study had a common experience that education inflation has occurred even with an international education. Middle-class students also showed that they are thinking of new strategies in the global education field through their practical habitus (Liu, 2021). They have realized that obtaining a GUAS degree no longer provides a guaranteed distinction of their abilities. The participants stated that they were considering going to graduate school (master’s and doctoral programs) even if they did not want to, but that they had a strong feeling that they should. Therefore, the global education market also suggests the possibility of forming a new trend in education inflation in the home country and abroad by meeting demands and incentives based on the existing supply.

In accordance with this phenomenon, researchers have expressed scepticism about the possibility that foreign degrees serve as cultural capital, and some researchers have even suggested that foreign cultural capital has a negative value (Sin, 2013). Local capital can generally provide more economic opportunities when entering the local labour market. Therefore, resourceful people would have access to economic resources, and people who return to their home country after studying abroad may actually perpetuate greater inequality (Allen & Hollingworth, 2013). Actors in the field are defined by their position and capital in the relationship between attributes rather than their intrinsic and objective attributes. In addition, their study abroad in Germany could play a role in understanding and recognizing the uniqueness of capital.

Conclusion

Many spheres of life are subordinated or not subordinated to state and territorial borders. This borderless phenomenon allows students to move for new educational opportunities (Bigo, 2011). Unlike before, their global education experience transcends borders in many countries, as they are no longer valid only in one country, but operate on the borders of many countries. As discussed above, a German degree has a positive effect on the social status and position of Asian students as a selection mechanism that excludes other competitors. Hence, German graduates in Asia have promising prospects for expanding employment opportunities across borders and in the global field.

Contrary to our expectations, Asian middle-class students have shaped their educational strategies through their own prior schooling experiences rather than from direct help or hopeful support from their parents. Hence, peer networks or school experiences seem to be more important than their parents’ influence on the formation of their cultural capital. This phenomenon is connected to Bourdieu’s idea that Asian students select their major, department and school, among others, and are placed within the educational system as part of their own educational strategy. This view is consistent with the individual’s social status and objectively expected prospects (Bourdieu, 1987). In this way, our analysis suggests that students may appear to be starting to make another distinction at the same time they leave for a foreign country. Thus, in formally classifying individuals according to educational attainment or grade, individuals acknowledge their differences and thereby act to align their real and perceived beings by creating or reinforcing those differences.

Through their previous various schooling experiences, transnational cultural capital interacts simultaneously with the global, national and individual levels to differentiate the students’ strategies and methods to win their competitive position. Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital is used to understand the international mobility of international students, but J. Kim (2011) discussed this research question based on a more complex and dynamic system that includes gender, social class, nationality and regional education system.

Competing for global positions is a key principle that guides Asian students to obtain German degrees (Bigo, 2011). Because we focused on the perspective of cultural capital that drives the global movement of Asian students, we did not sufficiently consider other forms of capital. The international mobility of Asian students is influenced by social, economic, psychological and cultural capital (Solimano, 2008). In addition, because Asian students are still trying to advance to English-speaking countries, it is necessary to examine the factors that enable them to continue to advance in various contexts. Therefore, the contribution and the limitation of this study lies in the fact that we selected Germany as a limited research space and cultural capital as a theoretical consideration.

Consistent with some previous studies, we have also shown the irony of using the international education degreetrategically in reverse while liberating them from various contradictions, “degreeism” and university-level academic forms. Building on these empirical studies, additional research is needed to elucidate the aspects of social, cultural and economic conditions that shape students’ educational experiences. In addition, it is necessary to investigate how various forms of cultural capital that determine study abroad can fully satisfy expectations and prospects after admission, and how these degree programs can be influenced by various social, cultural and economic factors.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to tor publication of this/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: the Open Access Publication Fund of the University of Tübingen

ORCID iDs

Junjun Huang

Dohye Yoon

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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Cultural Capital and the Transnational Mobility of Asian Middle-Class Students to Germany

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Literature Review

The Distinct Strategy of Asian Middle-Class Students: Pursue International Higher Education

Reasonable Educational Investment Choices of Asian Students

Context of GUAS

Methodology

Setting and Recruitment of Participants

Research Methods and Analysis

Findings

Recognition of the Superiority of Global Education Through “Lived Experience”

Recognition of the Optimal Global Location (for Class Movement): Germany’s Universal Recognition is Enviable

Use as a Trump Card in the Labour Field

Discussion

Conclusion

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

ORCID iDs

Data Availability Statement

References