Factors affecting career and life planning of Chinese cross-border senior secondary school students in Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper explores the career and life planning experiences of mainland Chinese students who cross the border daily from China to study in Hong Kong’s senior secondary schools. The small-scale study explored factors that appear to influence cross-border students’ access to career and life planning activities that may affect their self-concept development and their identification of future life roles. A qualitative method of inquiry was used, involving focus group discussion followed by individual in-depth interviews. Findings indicated that major influences on career and life choices were (i) fulfilling parental expectations, (ii) pursuing students’ own interests, and (iii) making best use of personal strengths and aptitudes. Less significant factors included peer group influences. In terms of self-concept and lifelong development, cross-border students showed increasing tendency to see themselves as a future ‘workers’ and ‘citizens.’ They also perceive themselves to have greater flexibility than most mainland students to adapt to various working situations in the future. These findings provide new insights for schools seeking to implement high quality career and life planning programs for these students.