PARTICULARITIES OF ACQUIRING CULTURAL CAPITAL IN EASTERN EUROPE_BENEFITS FOR UKRAINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN CANADA

This presentation is based on the qualitative research involving semi-structured interviews with Ukrainian international and immigrant university students in Canada aimed at understanding their educational experience using the concept of 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 cultural capital, which provides them with advantage in Canada. Specific patterns of social inequality and state-sponsored obstacles to social reproduction make Ukraine different from capitalist societies. Particular ways of acquiring cultural capital in Ukraine are represented by a more equitable approach to the availability of print, access to extracurricular activities, and popularity of enriched curriculum, and can illuminate further research on cultural capital in post-communist countries.