The Uncertain Value of Cosmopolitan Capital: Teachers at International Schools in Switzerland

Abstract

Drawing on field theory, this article analyses the trajectories of schoolteachers employed in Swiss international schools, with a focus on the accumulation and mobilization of various forms of capital – and the limits thereof. The heterogeneity of teacher trajectories and resources when entering the international school sector is documented and, through the concept of cosmopolitan capital, light is shed on specific logics of distinction contributing to the segmentation of the teaching sector and the creation of an educational enclave of international schools.