Third Culture Kids or Trans-Culture Kids, (abbreviated TCKs or 3CKs ,) whom are sometimes also called Global Nomads, "refers to someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture".
Since the term was coined by sociologist Ruth Hill Useem in the 1960s, TCKs have become a heavily studied global subculture. TCKs tend to have more in common with one another, regardless of nationality, than they do with non-TCKs from their own country.
The composition of American TCK sponsors (i.e. the organization that sends the family abroad) changed greatly after World War II. Prior to World War II, 66% of TCKs came from missionary families and 16% came from business families. After World War II, with the increase of international business and the rise of two International Superpowers, the composition of international families changed. Sponsors are generally broken down into five categories: Missionary (17%), Business (16%), Government (23%), Military (30%), and "Other" (14%).
Origins and research
Sociologist Ruth Hill Useem coined the term "Third Culture Kids" after spending a year on two separate occasions in India with her three children, (Flopsi, Penny, and Dipsi) in the early 1950's. Initially the term "third culture" was used to refer to the process of learning how to relate to another culture; in time, the meaning of the term changed and children who accompany their parents into a different culture were referred to as "Third Culture Kids". Useem used the term "Third Culture Kids" because TCKs integrate aspects of their birth culture (the first culture) and the new culture (the second culture), creating a unique "third culture".
Sociologist David Pollock describes a TCK as "a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture. The TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership of any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of a similar background." In order to be a TCK, one must accompany one's parents into a foreign culture. Entering another culture without one's parents, such as on a foreign exchange program, explicitly does not make one a TCK.
Research into Third Culture Kids has come from two fronts. First, most of the research into TCKs has been conducted by adult TCKs attempting to validate their own experiences. This research has been conducted largely at the Michigan State University, where Dr. Useem taught for over 30 years. Second, the U.S armed forces has sponsored significant research into the U.S. military brat experience. Most TCK research on adults is limited to those people whose time in a different culture occurred during the school age years.
Research into TCKs has either studied students currently living in a foreign culture or years later as adults. Since the only way to identify somebody who grew up in a foreign culture is through self-identification, scientific sampling methods on adults may contain bias due to the difficulty in conducting epidemiological studies across broad-based population samples.
While much of the research into TCKs has shown consistent results across geographical boundaries, some international sociologists are critical of the research that "expects there to be one unified 'true' culture that is shared by all who have experiences of growing up overseas."
Families
TCKs often come from highly successful, intact, educated families. When a group (whether it is the military, a business, church, etc) decides to send somebody to a foreign country, they are making a significant investment. They want to send people who will represent the group the best and provide the most value for the investment. TCKs will thus have a higher probability of coming from a family where at least one parent earned a college degree and often an advanced degree. "Almost all" TCK families are deployed to foreign countries as a result of the father's profession, and very few families live in another country primarily due to the mother's occupation.
TCKs also tend to come from families that are closer than non-TCK families. They will also have a smaller likelihood of having divorced parents (divorced parents are unlikely to allow their ex to take their child to another country.) "Because the nuclear family is the only consistent social unit through all moves, family members are psychologically thrown back on one another in a way that is not typical in geographically stable families." It has been observed that TCKs may be more prone to abuse as the family can become too tight knit. "The strength of family bond works to the benefit of children when parent-child communication is good and the overall family dynamic is healthy. It can be devastating when it is not.... Physical, sexual and emotional abuse ... may go unnoticed or unacknowledged by others for a variety of reasons, such as misguided notions about 'respecting privacy,' or fear of repatriation or family disgrace with colleagues."
Sponsorship
TCK's exposure to foreign countries depends largely on parent's sponsoring organization. The sponsor affects many variables such as: how long a family is in a foreign culture, the family's interaction with the host country nationals, how enmeshed the family becomes with local practices, and the family's interaction with people from the home country.
Military
Military brats, primarily from the United States, are the most mobile of TCKs but generally spend only a few years abroad, and sometimes none at all. Approximately 41% of military brats spend less than 5 years in foreign countries. They are the least likely TCKs to develop connections with the locals. Because military bases aim for self-sufficiency, military brats tend to be exposed the least to the local culture. Also, because of the self-sufficiency of military bases and the distinctiveness of military culture, even those military brats who never lived abroad can be isolated to some degree from the civilian culture of their "home" country.
While parents of military brats had the lowest level of education of the five categories, approximately 36% of USA military brat TCK families have at least one parent with an advanced degree. This is significantly higher than the general population.
Non-military government
Nonmilitary government TCKs are the most likely to have extended experiences in foreign countries for extended periods. 44% have lived in at least four countries. 44% will also have spent at least 10 years outside of their passport country. Their involvement with locals and others from their passport country depends on the role of the parent. Some may grow up moving from country to country in the diplomatic corps (see Foreign Service Brat) while others may live their lives near military bases.
Religious
Missionary Kids (MKs) typically spend the most time overseas in one country. 85% of MKs spend more than 10 years in foreign countries and 72% lived in only one foreign country. MKs generally have the most interaction with the local populace and the least interaction with people from their passport country. They are the most likely to integrate themselves into the local culture. 83% of missionary kids have at least one parent with an advanced degree.
Business
Business families also spend a great deal of time in foreign countries. 63% of business TCK's have lived in foreign countries at least 10 years but are more likely than MKs to live in multiple countries. Business TCKs will have a fairly high interaction with their host nationals and with others from their passport country. Many of these "business" families are from oil companies, particularly in the Arab world and in Latin America.
Other
The "Other" category includes anybody who does not fit one the above descriptions. They include children of workers at intergovernmental agencies and international non-governmental organizations, educators (e.g., Steve Kerr), media, professional athletes (e.g., Kobe Bryant and Wally Szczerbiak), etc. This group typically has spent the least amount of time in foreign countries (42% are abroad for 1–2 years and 70% for less than 5). Again their involvement with local people and culture can vary greatly. The children of Other can also mean living in an area with a certain ethnic majority other than your own, ie an Americanized Filipino living in a Korean-American neighborhood.
The parents of "Others" are the most likely of TCKs to have parents with an advanced degree (89% of families have an advanced degree.)
Non- States TCKs
Most international TCKs are expected to speak English and some countries require their expatriate families to be proficient with the English language. This is largely because most international schools use the English language as the norm.
Families tend to seek out schools whose principal languages they share, and ideally one which mirrors their own educational system. Many countries have American schools, French schools, British schools, and 'International Schools' which often follow the International Baccalaureate degree. These will be populated by expatriates' children and some children of the local upper middle class. They do this in an effort to maintain linguistic stability and
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