Trajectoires d’étudiants français à McGill et HEC Montréal : une reproduction sociale et culturelle en mobilité
This research explores the mobility trajectories of French students enrolled at McGill University and HEC Montréal, for they represent the largest community of international students in Quebec. Aiming for a better understanding of the phenomenon of mobility in the era of globalization, this thesis analyzes the motivational, experiential and biographical narratives of these students. Moreover, this research aims to account the practices of social and cultural reproduction expressed through these narratives. The analysis of the biographical narratives suggests that the type of mobility observed mainly concerns students from middle and upper-middle class backgrounds with relatively significant cultural, social and economic resources and a predisposition to mobility. The motivational stories of French students in mobility sometimes include "strategic" intentions but are rather marked by "hedonistic" motivations where mobility is a rite of passage used for self-fulfilment and personal discovery. The analysis of representations, meanings and uses of academic, urban, social and cultural space through experiential narratives reveals that Montreal is often the embodiment of a "promised land" of personal fulfillment. However, while the speeches reflect an ease of adaptation to the collegiate and Montreal environment, the experience of integration shows the opposite. Students tend to create friendship networks, based on the sharing of French identity and the experience of mobility, which are maintained through common sociability spaces. This isolation tends to strengthen the bonds of a privileged community, resulting in the reproduction of the social advantage of this category as well as the French socio-cultural codes that are perpetuated and flourish in the Montreal urban space.
motivations expatriation France Montréal student mobility stories experiences social and cultural Montreal