Global Elite and the Connection to the United States

While reading through the student/alumni interviews and course materials, a theme emerged connecting global eliteness to the United States. Students at the Olive Grove Academy, an elite private high school in Jordan, were taught an American curriculum in English. Further, 90% of graduates from Olive Grove head to the US for higher education, and one alumnus noted that about 75% of the teachers were Americans. Why does an elite school in Jordan have so many connections to the United States? The answer lies in perceptions of quality post-secondary education and a globalized economy greatly influenced by the United States. 

Many of the national schooling systems we have studied this semester incorporated English and Information Technology (IT) in their curricula. While many schooling systems offered English as an elective, China, Japan, and Russia required students to study it. According to Weis and Dolby, in Social Class and Education, English language education is a key to global success. Proficiency in English allows students to come to the United States to further their education and also to obtain jobs at US companies. Many US companies are outsourcing production to countries like India and China as labor is cheaper and the client base is expanding. However, workers in these countries require English and IT knowledge in order to gain access to these careers. English language education is used as “a way to either retain or gain cultural and economic power” (Anchan, 10). English and IT knowledge are useful skills required for individuals who want to remain competitive in the global economy. 

Students attending the Olive Grove Academy in Jordan viewed their next educational steps as pursuing post-secondary education in the United States. All four students interviewed from the Olive Grove named schools in the U.S. when asked where they wanted to attend college. One student, Fatima, mentioned that all three of her older siblings were attending or had attended Williams college in the U.S.  Further, all three alumni that were interviewed currently attended elite private schools (Bates, Colby, and Johns Hopkins) in the US. So, what makes post-secondary education in the United States extraordinary? 

For starters, Wing-Wah Law (2006) found that “studying abroad in developed countries, such as the United States, [was] often seen as a symbol of socioeconomic status” (91). Colleges and Universities in the United States are not cheap, so it is easy to see how attending these schools aligns with social class. Additionally, in 2004, the Jia Tong University of Shanghai found that among the top twenty best universities worldwide, sixteen were American universities (Orivel and Orivel, 2006). Elite American post-secondary institutions have a long history of academic excellence, including groundbreaking research and countless publications. Desire to attend these schools also makes them highly competitive and selective, thus, allowing the schools to accept the best applicants to further their prestige. The global elite is drawn to schools in the United States because of the forms of capital they confer on the students. 

At this point, you might be assuming that elite students across the globe are taught English and IT and seek out post-secondary education in the United States due to the superiority of the country. And up to this point, my research had led me to believe the same. However, the idea that the United States is a superior nation to all other countries is faulty. Rather, the United States has the most influence on globalization processes at this moment in time. And even this influence relies on compliance from the rest of the world. Before the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, global elites had strong connections to the Indian Ocean Trade System. Connections to markets in the spice islands, India, and China signified elite status. In the future, global elites may seek out connections to other geographical areas or to no specific area at all. 

References: 

Anchan, John P. “Education in India: Progress and Promise in a Land of Paradoxes.” Schooling Around the World: Debates, Challenges, and Practices, by Margret Winzer, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2006, pp. 192–204.

Law, Wing-Wah. “Education Reform For National Competitiveness in a Global Age: The Experience and Struggle of China.” Schooling Around the World: Debates, Challenges, and Practices, by Margret Winzer, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2006, pp. 68–103.

Orivel, Estelle and François Orivel. “French Education’s Dilemma in the Globalization Process: How to Accommodate Simultaneously the Objectives of Equality and Excellence?” Schooling Around the World: Debates, Challenges, and Practices, by Margret Winzer, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2006, pp. 207–228.

Weis, Lois, and Nadine Dolby. “Social Class and Education in Globalizing Context.” Social Class and Education: Global Perspectives, Routledge, 2012, pp. 1–12.