Hong Kong Students on the Mainland:A Brief Report

Zixiao YANGSOSC,HKUST

Emilie TRANUniversity of Saint Joseph, Macao

28 April 2010

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2004 2005 2006 2007Year

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Number of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Studentsin Mainland High Education Institutions (2004-2007)

Source: Online Database of Ministry of Education, PRC

Research Questions

Key Findings

1. HK students demonstrate some degree of psychological, social and cultural integration. But they mostly remain unchanged in political attitudes.

2. Inter-cities differences largely determine students’ degree of integration.

3. Concerns: insufficient information; peer pressure; future career.

Sampling

Three places: Beijing (BJ), Guangdong (GD) and Hong Kong (HK) as comparison group.

Thirteen universities in BJ and GD, three universities in Hong Kong. Including top universities like Tsinghua and Peking Univ., and middle-ranking ones like Jinan Univ.

Size: 100 in BJ, 121 in GD and 162 in HK.

Background Information Birth Place: 55% in Mainland; 43% in HK. Major: 38% Economy and Management; 35%

Humanity, Social Science and Law; 25% Science, Engineering and Medical.

Expenditure: 1,341 yuan per month on average.

HK students usually come from a family in which:

1) the father either runs a company (35%) or is an company manager/professional (28%).

2) the mother is a housewife (36%). 3) the family income: 9,000-15,000 yuan per

month (26%); 15,000-30,000 yuan (29%)

1. The Why?

For what reasons do HK students go study on the mainland?

Three most chosen reasons for going to the mainland

Mostly chosen Secondly chosen Thirdly chosen

BJ It’s my family’s desire. Mainland’s future of development is better

I plan to develop (my career) on the mainland

23 (23%) 22 (22%) 12 (12%)

GD It’s relatively hard to get into high-quality universities

It’s my family’s desire.

Low cost for intuition fees

36 (30%) 24 (20%) 23(19.17%)

HK It’s relatively hard to get into high-quality universities

Mainland’s future of development is better

They plan to develop (their careers) in mainland

45 (28%) 39 (24%) 33 (20%)

Career Plan after Graduation (I)

Mainland Hong Kong Overseas Don’t Know

BJ 23 (23%) 37 (37%) 9 (9%) 31 (31%)

GD 19 (16%) 70 (58%) 4 (3%) 27 (23%)

HK 42 (19%) 107 (49%) 13 (6%) 58 (26%)

Career Plan after Graduation (II)Mostly chosen Secondly chosen Thirdly chosen

BJ Further educationoverseas

Join a company Join the publicservice

30 (30%) 28 (28%) 10 (10%)

GD Join a company Join the publicservice

Further educationoverseas

42 (35%) 20 (16%) 17 (14%)

HK Join the publicservice

Join a company Further educationoverseas

55 (34%) 38 (23%) 10 (7%)

2. The How?

How is their life on the mainland and how do they adapt psychologically and socio-culturally?

HK students’ evaluation of mainland universities:

ML>HK ML=HK ML<HK

Student quality 36.10% 30.73% 33.17%

Air quality 29.77% 24.19% 46.05%

Teaching quality 20.98% 23.41% 55.61%

Sports facilities 17.79% 22.60% 59.62%

Entertainment facilities 2.82% 21.60% 75.59%

Living conditions 7.25% 10.88% 81.87%

Transportation 0.93% 16.67% 82.41%

Hygiene 0.46% 5.99% 93.55%

Living on campus & psychological adaptation

BJ GD HK

Hours spent studying(per day)

1.97 1.44 1.83

GPA (average score) 75.2/C 74.5/C 81.6/B-

Language used after schoolHalf PutonghuaHalf Cantonese

Most of the time Cantonese

Basically Cantonese

Life satisfaction rate (before going to ML)

87% 91%

82%Life satisfaction rate (after going to ML)

68% 80%

Socio-Cultural Adaptation

Connectedness through the media

Comparing students’ connectedness through the media (%)

Connectedness through social interactions

1) A prejudice-less environment

Do you think mutual understanding might be a problem for Hong Kong youth going to study on the mainland? (%)

Feeling isolated? (%)

Feeling different? (%)

Connectedness through social interactions

1) A prejudice-less environment

2) A pro-active attitude

Learning Putonghua as a must whenstudying on the mainland (%)

You wish to understand mainland people (%)

Connectedness through social interactions

1) A prejudice-less environment

2) A pro-active attitude

3) That favor mingling with mainlanders

On the mainland, where are your friends from? (%)

Sharing feelings with either mainland or Hong Kong friends (%)

Participating in social activities (%)

Overall…

Hong Kong students on the mainland remain generally well connected firstly to the world beyond their campus life through the media and secondly to their peers through actual social interactions, befriending with both mainlanders and Hong Kong peers as well as participating in social activities.

Our survey has revealed: an overall smooth

integration into the mainland for the majority of the Hong Kong students stationed there, which is favored by a prejudice-less environment, an open-minded outlook and a pro-active attitude in mingling with mainlanders

that indicate not only the goodwill but also the rapprochement in progress of the Hong Kong youth towards the mainland and its people.

Everyday life:

— safety— language barrier

Academic life:

No.1: Excessive stress in studying (38%);

No.2: Worrying that they would be unable to find a satisfying job after graduation (28%);

No.3 Worrying that mainland diploma might not be recognized in HKSAR (20%).

Insufficient information: students usually have enough information about the mainland but lack information about particular universities.

Some concerns though, mainly related to…

While (if [for HK]) studying on the mainland, are (would be [for HK]) the following items a concern to you? (%)

While studying on the mainland, are (would be [for HK]) the following items a concern to you? (%)

3. And Then?

To what extent their mainland experience may affect Hong Kong students’ political outlook and identity perception?

— HK students do not think the mainland government will become service-oriented in the near future.

— HK students feel more empowered to influence the government’s decision in the SAR.

How confident are you in the mainland government to evolve into a “service-oriented government” in the next 3 to 5 years? (%)

Comparing HKSAR and the mainland, where do you have the more capacity to influence the government’s decisions in your own interests? (%)

Comparing HKSAR and the mainland, where do you have the more capacity to influence the government’s decisions in your own interest? (in%)

— The mainland experience does change somehow their identity perception.

— Those without any experience on the mainland are much less prone to consider another place than Hong Kong to live.

To what extent working or studying on the mainland could affect the identity of the Hong Kong people? (%)

Where would you like to live in the next 15 to 20 years? (%)

Students with mainland experience are more prone to perceive themselves as Chinese.

What is your identity?

Policy recommendation

1. Provide students with information about their target universities before their going to the mainland.

2. Offer career information to students studying on the mainland.

3. Organize inter-universities activities.

4. Provide support or extra-training in mathematics before their going to the mainland (summer time).