Mobility as Capital: A ‘Three-Step’ Education Pathway of Chinese Transnational Migrant Families in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Since the raising of China's ‘Going-Out’ policy, the number of Chinese residing in Africa has increased dramatically, providing these families with greater convenience in cross-border mobility. This article empirically examines this emerging transnational population of Chinese families in Zimbabwe, focusing on the social reproduction of this relatively understudied group. We identify an educational migration strategy used by these families as a ‘three-step’ pathway: sending their children back to China for primary school, returning to Zimbabwe for middle school, and ultimately aiming for admission to Western universities. Using Bourdieu's notion of capital, we analyse how these educational decisions facilitate the transformation of family mobility into cultural and social capital, reinforcing transmigrant family strategies of social reproduction. This study bridges the gap between preuniversity educational mobility and lifelong transnational mobility aspirations, highlighting the foundational role of family influence. It broadens the theoretical scope of international education research by examining how Chinese primary education, Zimbabwean secondary education, and Western higher education, each as an imagined community, collectively shape family aspirations and emphasise the enduring impact of family plans on international student mobility.