Between localization and internationalization: how does the global international school industry establish legitimacy?

With shifting customer demographics, the global international school industry faces the legitimacy dilemma of attracting potential customers from local while maintaining its international identity. Drawing on institutional theory, 30 international schools in Shanghai, Geneva, and New York are selected as cases to identify common marketing strategies adopted by schools from the industry when navigating the legitimacy dilemma. This study found that international schools position themselves as elite institutions to meet local aspirations for social mobility and emphasise their international characteristics, such as multilingual curricula, diverse student backgrounds, to maintain their international identity. Findings advance understanding of international schools’ role in reinforcing social inequalities.