IB Extended Essay on Sociology

In the world today, globalization is increasing at a rapid rate. With the incorporation of the internet into the daily lives of people, communication between nations has been made much more convenient. This results in the increase of a global economy and encourages trading and outsourcing. China is one of the most attractive countries for outsourcing workers with over 150,000 legally employed in 2006, double of what it was in 2003.[1] The increase of outsourced workers began to rise sharply after China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 and that ¡°foreigners with managerial and professional skills are welcome to work in China¡±[2]

This mentality is a complete turnaround to what China was like prior to World War II and the emergence of the Communist Party. However, since the fall of the Soviet Union in the 80s, the Communist influence and power has deteriorated immensely¡ªpossibly being the main reason why China is opening its doors to international partnership and working itself into the global economy. Due to the increase of outsourced workers, the number of expatriate families also increased¡ªof which many have teenage children. The fact that it is now less of a hassle to get a Chinese visa for the family of a worker and that many companies have offered to handle all legal issues as well as international schools for the children makes the decision to move the entire family much easier as many provide International Baccalaureate courses that provide a global standard in education. The effects on the expatriated teenagers will either be apparent or not leave a lasting effect at all while they are still living abroad. However, the effects once they repatriate themselves will be permanent.

The experiences from living as an expatriate teenager will cause some similar, permanent changes socially regardless of prior backgrounds among Chinese-American teenagers. As more teenagers and young adults who find themselves struggling with these common effects make online connections with others like them, two new social classifications were created, ¡°Third Culture Kids¡± (TCK) and ¡°Global Nomads¡±, with the main difference being the age they were when living as an expatriate. Being expatriated and repatriated as a teenager will have much more of an effect than as an adult since the brain is still being developed as a teenager and is more susceptible to being impacted. Ruth Hill Useem first came up with the term in the 1960s right around the time where the TCK sponsors were switching. Prior to WWII, 66% of TCKs came from missionary families. After WWII, the trend began to spread out among other sponsors of primarily four categories. 17% come from missionary families, 16% come from businesses, 23% come from government related businesses, 30% caused by military.[3]

Typically, TCKs will experience many similar effects regardless of where they were expatriated to. Common positive effects that many TCKs experience include, but are not limited to, the ability to communicate in more than one language, the ability to adapt to other environments quicker, a broader sense of world issues and problems, a wider scope of cultural differences, and appreciation for simple luxuries. Some negative effects shared by many ¡°TCK¡± include the feeling of being a social outcast, a lack of the sense of home, and habits that aren¡¯t necessarily legal when they repatriate themselves such as the drinking or consent age. Another effect that could be arguably positive or negative is the increased use of the worldwide web on the internet as it becomes the vital source in keeping touch once an expatriate group has been repatriated around the world. With all these different effects occurring during the most vital stage of brain development in humans, the influences can only be magnified.

Method:

Design:

This investigation is primarily focused on the Chinese-American teenagers that have lived in Shanghai for at least a year and returned to the United States. Since the ¡°TCK¡± group is one of the most recent waves of the social groups, not a lot of studies and research have been conducted and published. Therefore, the majority of the conclusions will stem from the interviews conducted with repatriated Chinese-American teenagers as well as personal experience and historical research. These interviews have been fairly limited to those who lived in Shanghai, China though some have also experienced living in other major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Hong Kong as well as the controversial state of Taiwan.

Participants:

Fifteen of the people interviewed were between the ages of 15 thru 19 (as of July 2006) from a variety of different social, economic and academic backgrounds with the majority being expatriated after the age of 12. These people were randomly drawn from a pool of known Chinese-American teenagers who have studied in Shanghai for at least a year. The duration of stay in Shanghai among those interviewed ranged from one to eight years. Others that were interviewed include two expatriated teachers, three repatriated students from Taiwan as well as myself. Due to the dispersed locations of the interviewees, the interviews were conducted via the internet. Participation in the interview was voluntary and the interviewees were allowed to omit any of the initial questions and were also given the freedom to refuse to respond to follow up questions. As an extra variation, I also decided to interview those who were repatriated within a year as well as those who did a seasonal study-abroad program and compared their results.

I found that it is very important to also get input and feedback from young adults who are able to analyze the situation from a different angle that may differ from those of the students. The two teachers that I interviewed were chosen because I believe that due to their background and what they plan on pursuing, they would be able to provide much more insight in this topic. Stephen Chen is one of the counselors at the SMIC Private School in Shanghai, China and specializes in helping students with college information and processes. He has been living in Shanghai since 2001 and was studying abroad in Taiwan the previous year. He will be returning to the United States to continue studying for a PhD in psychology in 2007. His understanding of the psychological and sociological experiences of what many of the students are going through was very valuable to my research. Joshua Shen was a former teacher at the SMIC Private School. He is currently studying at Georgetown for a Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy. He has been around China since 2001 and later came to Shanghai in 2002. He was a TCK himself, studying in Taiwan during his high school years. His understanding of the relationship between the United States and China as well as his own personal experiences proved to be very helpful in my own understanding of this specific topic.

It was also important that I kept my study group focused on those who have lived in Shanghai for more than a year. This is because of the fact that the brain of a teenager is still developing and is constantly changing views on topics. From experience and observations, the first year of teenage expatriate life is usually very difficult, resulting in a view that has not fully experienced all aspects of expatriate life and thus give a response that isn¡¯t as useful as those who have had more experience. However, it is still interesting to see some common trends among those who were only living abroad for under a year and should be considered for further study. All members in the study group fall under the business category as the reason of having their family move to Shanghai.

Primary Study Group: Asian-American, Duration of stay greater than one year.

Name

Age

Duration abroad

Origin

Currently in

Grade level

Cha, Mandy

18

3 years

Hawaii

California

College

Chang, Serena

17

8 years

California

California

12

Chiu, Harrison

18

5 years

California

California

College

Lin, Ashley

17

5 years

California

California

12

Lin, Peipei

17

3 years

California

Washington

12

Liu, Jasmine

16

6 years

Canada

Canada

11

Liu, Timothy

18

5 years

Pennsylvania

California

College

Niou, Timothy

17

4 years

Washington

Washington

12

Shi, Cindy

18

2 years

Texas

New York

College

Wang, Connie

18

2 years

California

Virginia

College

Xu, Zhongnan

17

2 years

Oregon

Oregon

12

Yang, Nini

19

2 years

California

California

College

Jimmy, Zhang

15

1.5 years

California

California

10

Kenneth, Zhang

18

1.5 years

California

California

College

Zhi, Anna

16

3 years

Oregon

Oregon

11

For other interviewees, please see Appendix 3.

Materials:

¡¤ Initial Interview Questions for students (see Appendix 1)

¡¤ Initial Interview Questions for teachers (see Appendix 2)

Procedure:

After sending out the interview questions through e-mail or instant messaging to the participants, the results were collected and analyzed. Similar responses were grouped together and then cross-referenced with the previous and current backgrounds of the participants. This primarily served to spot any similar trends in answers among those from the same backgrounds. Follow-up questions were conducted to obtain more information to further clarify the results as well as to expand on interesting points that was not raised in the original questionnaire. Then, the same questions were sent to those who were abroad for less than a year and compared to those of the primary study group. These then were used to compare and contrast with the teachers¡¯ inputs.

Results:

The responses that were collected from my primary study group yielded results in a rather consistent manner and generally followed through with my hypothesis that the experiences from living as an expatriate teenager will cause similar and permanent social changes regardless of their prior economic, academic, and social background. There weren¡¯t any convincing trends that showed any correlation between their views on their expatriate experience and their prior backgrounds.

According to all 15 of the primary study group members, they felt that they now have a broader background of the world. ¡°I saw how small of a part I am in this world after meeting people from all over the world in one area,¡± said Kenneth Zhang, a freshman currently attending the University of California ¨C San Diego. This realization is shared by everyone within the primary study group. By being exposed to people on an international field and exploring cultural differences puts into a perspective that many American teenagers don¡¯t see.

Another major change that was apparent in all the primary study group members was the fact that they all believe that because of being exposed to such a plethora of cultures in the highly international Shanghai atmosphere, they are now more adaptable to and understanding of new environments. ¡°Adjusting to the city itself is an obstacle, so once you¡¯ve adjusted you're pretty much able to adapt into other various environments,¡± said Peipei Lin, a senior at Mountain View High School in Vancouver, Washington. A large part of this is due to the large wage gap that has been an aching problem in China¡¯s economy. It is probably the worst in Shanghai due to its international exposure to business while still having a large portion filled with migrant workers and peasant farmers. ¡°Shanghai's allowed me to really see the society at its two polar ends,¡± Lin added. ¡°This not only helped me to understand different cultures¡¯ problems to help me adapt to them, but it also has influenced me to help reach out to those who are on the lower end of the gap because we¡¯ve experienced it first hand, you know?¡± Community service was a big part of the international culture in Shanghai as more people coming in notice this giant gap.

The main section that had an obvious split in views was how the members from my primary study group viewed their own change in economic social class prior to being expatriated and after being repatriated. The three main differences in the responses are that they felt like they have raised their social class, lowered their social class, or that their social class was relatively unaffected. Many were exposed to the elite group of business men in Shanghai, thus affecting them when coming back to America. ¡°I¡¯ve grown a lot more elitist and materialistic because I¡¯ve been exposed to a lot of richness so I try to emulate that style once I got back to America,¡± said Kenneth Zhang. On the opposite side of the spectrum, others have restrained themselves from trying to emulate their higher class lifestyle in America.

¡°Being able to live such a comfortable life in Shanghai really put things into perspective at just how lucky we were to be living like that since everywhere around us were people who are far worse off than we are,¡± said Timothy Liu, a freshman currently attending the University of California ¨C Berkeley. ¡°Because of that experience in Shanghai, I have learned to be more content with my life and with what I have, though my current lack of financial resources as a college student may have helped.¡± Despite these differences, they all agreed their social class was raised when they were living in Shanghai due to the low cost of living and even lower expenses of entertainment, courtesy of the latest pirating technologies.

Conclusion:

The lifestyle experienced in Shanghai by Chinese-American teenagers had such a drastic impact because it was something very different from anything else that they have encountered in the past. The significance of picking this particular age group is because we are the pioneers of a lifestyle that¡¯s rapidly gaining in numbers all across the world, though particularly in America, due to the push and emphasis for a global market of free trade. The significance of using Chinese-Americans who were expatriated to China was because of China¡¯s current status as a rapidly rising world power in economics and industry. China has been opening its doors a lot more to the international market as of late and has been predicted that this will be the trend for at least the next decade, depending on the outcome of the World Expo in 2010 held in Shanghai.

The fact that all members in my primary study group had a change in view of their place in the world really brings to light the drastic effects of the ¡°American bubble¡± that seem to shield the American society from what is truly happening around the world. Most of the group members also mentioned that they gained a significant amount of cultural knowledge. This may possibly show how much culture is lost from a Chinese immigrant family to the first generation Chinese-American, which is a rising problem that has influenced many parents in their decision of whether or not to move the whole family to China. ¡°Although I did not move to Shanghai as a result of my parents coming here, they really pushed me to take this job here so that I would be able to truly understand the Chinese culture,¡± said Stephen Chen. ¡°I believe that reaching back to cultural roots was one of the factors that influenced many of your parents¡¯ decisions to move here.¡± All study group members reported that with their new cultural understanding, they were able to be more tolerant and understanding of different environments.

One of the most significant effects of living in Shanghai was how it has changed the way that people viewed their own social class after moving back. There was possibly a slight problem with this because three of the seven college students studied moved back to directly attend college; thus, influencing their views as they don¡¯t have a lot of money and don¡¯t have parental support¡ªwhich is another interesting topic that is appropriate for further research. There were inconsistencies with the members¡¯ response to this particular question, which indicates that their change of economic social standings is also affected by something outside of their experience from living in Shanghai. Some possible influences for their change in view may have been that their view of their family¡¯s economic social standing was premature due to age or ignorance of a particular situation or their new environmental influences such as the economic social standings of friends or just the general area. This is important because it will affect our future goals and decision-making reasoning as we prepare to enter the work force.

Also worth mentioning, the party scene in Shanghai skyrocketed in teenagers as they moved to Shanghai. Primary reasons for this are the convenience of transportation to the many available clubs and other areas of entertainment such as karaoke bars and bowling alleys as well as the lax restrictions of alcohol availability to minors. Most times, children under the age of eight can purchase alcohol at the local convenience store without any problem at all. This is a big problem as 12 and 13 year olds are spotted clubbing and drinking on a regular basis though it has not been addressed very much since many times, their parents have no idea. This may have an effect on repatriated students, though according to my sample study group, it hasn¡¯t been a big problem. ¡°Shanghai really socially exposed me to the best drinking/partying scenes because it is so easily accessible and affordable,¡± commented Kenneth Zhang, who voiced the opinions of many of the members. ¡°However, once moving back, I¡¯ve consumed much less alcohol outside of my own house and have gone to a lot less parties and clubs mainly because it took too much effort to organize a group and go out.¡± A few members, particularly the females, have added that there is just a different field of social events. While Shanghai consisted of more parties and clubbing for teenagers, America provided more shopping and movies instead.

Due to this being a relatively new social movement amongst Asian-Americans, this is still being studied heavily by professors in both China and America. This generation¡¯s wave of Third Culture Kids is growing massively and is getting more connected with each other through the big help of internet networking and will be interesting to study as we progress through schooling and into the work force. Being an expatriated and repatriated Chinese-American with the current standings of both the United States and China along with the fact that these are the first wave of kids who have grown up using the internet really gives researchers a high level of interest in future study of them.

[1] China¡¯s Ministry of Labour and Social Security

[2] Gao Lin, an official of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs¡¯ Employment Department

[3] Ann Cottrell ¡°Educational and Occupational Choices of American Adult Third Culture Kids¡± (2002) p230