Supervising international students: the role of symbolic capital

This study examines how the pursuit of symbolic capital within a highly competitive and metricized academic field shapes academic staff perceptions of and engagement with international research student supervision. Drawing on Bourdieu’s conceptual tools, and based on 60 interviews with academic staff from diverse disciplines and universities in Israel, we identify perceptions that either impede or facilitate the supervision of international students, and different engagement strategies. Our findings underscore the crucial role of academic staff perceptions and engagement in shaping the trajectories of international research student mobility and highlight how academic performativity influences supervision practices.