Acculturation and sense of belonging: a study of young Pakistani students in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

The question of a sense of belonging to a host society is paramount to the study of acculturation in the society of settlement. The study of acculturation seeks to examine how acculturating people make sense of belonging to both their country of origin and the receiving community, and the potential consequences of adaptation. Using Berry’s acculturation typology as an analytical framework, this article examines the sense of belonging among a group of Pakistani secondary school students and compares their accounts of social identification with everyday sociocultural practices in Hong Kong. A phenomenographic analysis of the participants’ interviews reveals a lack of congruence between their sense of belonging and their lived acculturative experience. The findings suggest that categorising acculturating people based merely on their sense of belonging offers a limited understanding of acculturation. The theoretical and research implications of the findings are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Acculturation
• sense of belonging
• Pakistani students
• Hong Kong

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

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Additional information

Funding

The research reported here is drawn from the General Research Fund project, ‘Exploring the contextual influence of school, home and community on the development of ethnic minority students’ sense of belonging in Hong Kong’ [GRF 18607219], funded by the Research Grants Council of University Grants Committee, Hong Kong.

Notes on contributors

Shahid Karim

Dr Shahid Karim is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). Before he embarked on his PhD journey at EdUHK, he has studied at the Aga Khan University Institute for the study of Muslim Civilizations, London, UK and Karachi University, Pakistan for his postgraduate courses including MA in Muslim Cultures and Master of Administrative Sciences respectively. His research interests include acculturation and intercultural education and learning.

Ming Tak Hue

Professor Ming Tak Hue is currently the Professor, Head of the Department of Special Education and Counselling and Director of Integrated Center for Wellbeing. He obtained his PhD at the Institute of Education, the University of London, England. He teaches graduate courses in school guidance and counselling, classroom management, behavior management and inclusive education. He is interested in cultural influence on school counselling, cultural responsiveness, multicultural education, multicultural competency, classroom management and mindfulness.