Social and Cultural Capital of Ukrainian University Students in Canada and their Educational Experience

This qualitative research involved semi-structured interviews with Ukrainian international and immigrant university students in Canada to get an insight into their educational experience using the concept of social and cultural capital put forward by Pierre Bourdieu. Ukrainian students constitute an under-researched group of diverse students in Canada and it is important to understand their specific attitude towards education, adaptation and achievement. I found that Ukrainian students possess high levels of social and cultural capital. Social capital showed low level of portability due to the weak ties between Ukrainian students and Ukrainian Canadian community. While more equal approach to the availability of print, access to extracurricular activities and enriched curriculum provided Ukrainian students with advantage in Canada, they experienced obstacles due to the lack of presentation skills and dissatisfaction with curriculum. These results will enable educators and administrators to get an insight into educational patterns and expectations typical of Ukrainian students.M.A