Beyond an instrumental analysis of elite Nigerian parents’ consumption of overseas schooling: parental love, responsibility, and sacrifice

Ayling, Pere (2026) Beyond an instrumental analysis of elite Nigerian parents’ consumption of overseas schooling: parental love, responsibility, and sacrifice. In: The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Global Elites. Oxford University Press, New York, USA, pp. 349-364. ISBN 9780197780343

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Abstract

Sociological studies on elites are typically driven by social justice ideals. Consequently, school choice decisions of elite parents are often framed as motivated by instrumental gains. This chapter departs slightly from this well-trodden path to explore other equally important non-instrumental motives that were behind the decision of a group of elite Nigerian parents to educate their children in private boarding school in England. Drawing on insights from Allat’s (1996) thesis of schooling as a ‘gift’, the chapter presents an analysis that explores the role that parent-child relations play in influencing elite Nigerian parents’ consumption of overseas schooling. Specifically, it discusses the three non-instrumental motives namely parental love, responsibility, and sacrifice that had influenced these parents’ decision to consume overseas schooling. Throughout, the chapter reveals how instrumental and non-instrumental values intersect so that altruistic and patriotic acts, on closer examination, align perfectly with parents’ class interest for distinction and positional advantage.

Item Type: Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords: Nigerian elites, instrumental motives, non-instrumental motives, parental love, parental responsibility, parental sacrifice
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions: The School of Business, Arts, Social Sciences and Technology
Depositing User: David Upson-Dale
Date Deposited: 01 Jun 2026 07:36
Last Modified: 01 Jun 2026 07:36
URI: https://oars.uos.ac.uk/id/eprint/5594

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