Local Contact and Sense of Belonging to the Host Society Among Highly Educated Migrants

Abstract

We investigated how the quality, quantity, and types of local contact are related to the sense of belonging to the host society among highly educated migrants in Hong Kong. Drawing from a data set collected in 2018 and 2020 in Hong Kong, we found that not all local contacts are related to the level of sense of belonging to the host society of highly educated migrants. Of all local contacts (at work, during leisure time, and in the residential community), the only contacts that matter are those that occur in the residential community. Furthermore, only participation in locally oriented voluntary and religious organizations are significantly related to migrants’ sense of belonging. Discrimination plays an important role, while language proficiency is not related to sense of belonging.