You are invited to a talk of interest to the COR community…
Minh Cao
Doctoral Candidate, Merage School of Business
4pm-5:30pm
Zoom: https://uci.zoom.us/j/96978185
Title: ‘The realm of the ridiculous’: Straddling intimacy and professionalism in college admission consulting
Abstract: This paper presents an ethnographic study on Icarus, an admission consulting firm serving international students applying to college programs in English-speaking countries. My study focuses on the relationship between consultants at Icarus and their customers. The customers demanded personal care and associated this care with intimacy and personal connections, while the consultants wanted personal boundaries in their relationship with customers. As a result, consultants at Icarus constantly straddled intimacy and professionalism by eroding and rebuilding personal boundaries in their daily interactions with customers. Eventually, consultants became exhausted and accepted the indeterminacy of the paradoxical tensions in their relationship with customers.