Unseen experiences of non-white third culture kids: Exploring cultural hierarchy and social consciousness in transnational spaces

Abstract

The growing number of people in global transit are often families, which means that children are greatly impacted as their family moves. Many of these children are known as third culture kids (TCK), who have grown up in multiple countries. This term was coined by Ruth Useem in the 1950s but attracted more attention in the 1970s when David Pollock and Ruth Van Reken conducted seminars and workshops about TCK. They found that TCKs had similar issues such as rootlessness even though the countries they had been to were different. TCKs became a unique people group that breaks the normal boundaries of cultural and ethnic boxes. However, in recent years, children of expatriates from minority communities in the West or the Majority World have been raising concerns that their experiences growing up in global transit are different from the traditional TCK narratives due to classism and racism. This article seeks to examine the different experiences of non-white TCKs growing up and bringing voices to their untold stories as part of the larger set of TCK issues. TCKs are not a homogenous group. There is a need to have more voices from non-white TCKs to care for this growing trend of global mobile families from the Majority World/Global South. Non-white TCKs face different kinds of complexity in cultural identities as they move between countries. Race, ethnicity, nationality, language/accent, education system, family culture, moving portfolio, and socio-economic status are all factors affecting the TCK experience according to the cultural hierarchy in the locations they are in. International organizations should consider the unique stories of non-white TCKs to help their workers serve effectively in their overseas assignments and return to their countries with smooth re-entry.