What / Who is a TCK?

Third culture kids (TCKs) are children/teens who live outside their passport country because of a parent's employment abroad in a representational role. The parents are employed by an organization that is not based in the country of residence (host country). In other words they are the children of diplomats and other governmental organizations including the military, missionaries and other representatives of religious organizations, businesses, educational institutions, international organizations such as the UN, CARE etc. They are generally expected to return to their "home" country for higher education and to make their permanent home in that country. Another term frequently used to describe this population is Global Nomad.

Expatriate is a broader term which encompasses these families. Expatriates are individuals/families living outside their passport country, usually expecting to repatriate at some point. This broader category includes those who are employed by host country governments or organizations as well as those who are abroad on their own, e.g. artists, retired.

CCK (Cross-cultural kid) is a term that is gaining acceptance as a way to acknowledge the fact that TCKs have a great deal in common with other individuals who have a complex cultural heritage such as immigrants, refugees, children of cross cultural marriages or children who grow up in a community dominated by another religion, race or ethnic group. Anyone whose childhood incorporates more than one culture for reasons such as those above is a Cross Cultural Kid.

TCK Researchers. This is meant to be a list of individuals who are doing research on TCK relevant topics, and those who have done such research or are thinking about beginning TCK related research. Anyone who has done or may do research is encouraged to post her/his interest and contact information here to facilitate an exchange of ideas. To add your name to the list send an email with appropriate information to Ann Cottrell at: acottrell at mail dott sdsu dott edu. (email addresses are presented in this variation to discourage being collected by those who get addresses for spam off websites. Obviously you need to translate to the standard form to send an email)

Ruth Hill Useem's TCK Bibliography

References to Ruth Useem and her work in the TCKworld website are out of date. Important corrections may be found on the TCKworld update web page.