EXPERIENCES OF THE GIFT, PERCEPTIONS OF THE COMMODITY:AN EXAMINATION OF THE AFFECTS OF COMMODITIZATION ON EDUCATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN AN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM

Abstract

International education is a profitable industry in Canada with thousands of students entering the country each year to contribute millions of dollars to educational institutions in the form of tuition payments. Students around the world are encouraged to seek out international experiences in order to build a cosmopolitan knowledge that will be an asset for employment in the global economy. As a result, academic credentials acquired through international education programs have become a valuable object for international students. This research project examines the experiences of students, and faculty, with international education to explore how participants view the nature of their educational relationships. Given current critiques about commodification and the entrepreneurial activities by education institutions in the international market, this project highlights ways in which economic relationships between institutions and students/clients affect the gift-giving exchange that is the basis for non-economic educational relationships between faculty and students.