Identities of cross-border students: Crisis, ambiguity or flexibility

In the past decade, Hong Kong has experienced a sharp rise of cross-border students. Children with legal right of abode in Hong Kong reside on the mainland but commute from Shenzhen to Hong Kong for schooling everyday. While cross-border students originally came from families of Hong Kong fathers and mainland-resident mothers, the family configurations and socio-economic backgrounds of cross-border students have been diversified recently, including Hong Kong resident families who have moved to Shenzhen because of living costs or job opportunities, and children born in Hong Kong to Chinese mainland parents. Cross-border students are a differentiated migrant group. Furthermore, living their lives across the border but commuting daily can have a significant impact on the sense of belonging and cultural identities of these children. Little research, however, has been done on these children, or is limited to one type of family configuration. This paper fills the gaps by revealing the complex identities of young cross-border students. Using data from a questionnaire survey and qualitative interviews conducted in 2012, it argues that cross-border students have experienced ambiguous cultural identities, which can be a source of confusion as well as a flexible resource.