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Third culture kids and college support: a case study

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Third culture kids and college support: a case study

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Content Running Head: THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 1

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT:
A CASE STUDY

by

Sarah Jennifer Holdren

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2013

Copyright 2013 Sarah Jennifer Holdren
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 2
Acknowledgements
I would first like to thank the ISS staff and Third Culture Kid students at Lewis & Clark
College. Without their willingness to sit down with me and explain their program, I never would
have been able to complete this study. Thank you for your time and your passion.
Thank you to Dr. Mark Power Robison and Dr. Michael A. Diamond for helping me find
my way to this study. I sincerely appreciate the time you both spent helping me find the topic we
all knew was buried somewhere. Dr. Lynette Merriman has also had invaluable viewpoints, and
been a great person to turn to for advice.
Growing up, I never imagined that I would be in a position to write about what I lived;
thank you, Mom and Dad, for taking me with you on the adventure that was being a U.S. expat.
Your support, then and now, means more than I’ll ever be able to express.
My husband, Owen Holdren, has been my rock for years. Thank you for putting up with
the whirlwind. You have kept everything under control and been an amazing cheerleader.
Dr. JLB, thank you for joining me (and sticking with me) through the past seven years. I
couldn’t have done this without you, even though you’re no longer just five digits away.
To LKP – thank you for being there for late night calls, texts and Skype chats. I’m so
glad we met, and that you’ve stuck around. Soon you’ll be a Dr. too!!
Team R&D, I never would have made it this far without you all. Your encouragement
and good attitudes, plus fun happy hours, have been great fun over the past year and a half. I’m
so glad that we got to know each other better.
Thanks also to my co-workers for listening to me, and supporting me on this journey.
A final thank you goes to the sisters of P.E.O. Chapter IT, Santa Monica who have sent
cards, encouragement, and support for the past three years.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 3
Table of Contents
List of Tables 5
Abstract 6
Chapter One: Introduction and Discussion of the Problem 7
Background of the Problem 7
Statement of the Problem 13
Purpose of the Study 14
Significance of the Study 16
Limitations 17
Delimitations 18
Organization of the Study 18
Definition of Terms 19
Chapter Two: Literature Review 21
International Students 22
Third Culture Kid Students 38
Student Support Programs and Centers 55
Conclusion 58
Chapter Three: Methodology 59
Research Questions 60
Research Design 61
Population and Sample 63
Instrumentation 65
Data Collection and Analysis 66
Framework 67
Validity and Reliability 69
Conclusion 70
Chapter Four: Findings 71
Overview of the Institution 72
Overview of the Students 74
Question 1 75
Question 2 88
Question 2a 91
Question 2b 95
Question 3 98
Question 3a 108
Conclusion 112
Chapter Five: Discussion 114
Summary 114
Research Questions 117
Discussion & Analysis 120
Recommendations for Research 125
Recommendations for Practice 126
Conclusion 129
References 130
Appendix A 141
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 4
Appendix B 142
Appendix C 143
Appendix D 144
Appendix E 145
Appendix F 146
Appendix G 147
Appendix H 148
Appendix I 150

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 5
List of Tables
Table 1: PolVan Cultural Identity Model 9
Table 2: Study Participants 67

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 6
Abstract
This single site case study applies the Transition Cycle framework (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009)
to an institutionally-based, student-run support program for Third Culture Kids. The purpose of
this study was to examine how Lewis and Clark College responded to the presence of Third
Culture Kid, or Global Nomad, students on campus by creating a student support program in
1992. This study examined the aims of the institution with regard to the program, the factors that
led to the creation of the program, the current focus of the program, and the services that are
offered to students. Student perspectives on the organization were also considered. This study
utilized qualitative methodology including interviews with staff and third culture students at
Lewis and Clark, site observation, and document analysis, with the goal of understanding how
the support program operates. Findings from this study indicate that the program operates as a
support network for third culture students on campus, and that the institution’s staff, student
advisory board, and student intern work together to keep the program operating and relevant to
current students. Key factors include identifying third culture students early in the application
process and making sure that the community is welcoming to all students. This study illustrates
how one school has worked to recognize the experiences of third culture students, and suggests
ways that other schools may work to adapt such a program to their campus.

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 7
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF THE PROBLEM
The transition to college can be challenging for students of all types. For students who
may feel that they do not fit the traditional label and expectations of a college student, the
transition can be more challenging. Students may find themselves labeled as minority, first
generation, or non-traditional students, instead of merely being identified as college students.
Many institutions have created activities, programs, and offices to support these students in their
transition to college. There is one population that is still overlooked at many institutions, and
that is the population of students called “third culture kids,” also known as internationally mobile
students or global nomads. These students have grown up in a culture that is not their own,
combined it with the culture of their parent’s country, and created a third culture for themselves.
The purpose of this study is to examine one institution’s response to the challenges that
third culture kid students encounter. The Third Culture Kid program at Lewis and Clark College
was established in 1992, and assists third culture kids in their transition to the institution. The
program is housed in the International Students and Scholars office, is staffed by a student intern,
and is also supported by the full time staff from the International Students and Scholars office.
To date, there has been little research done on what effect any type of college support system has
on a third culture kid college student experience. Additionally, there has been no published
research on how the program works to incorporate knowledge of the third culture experience into
the support program. This study aims to address both of these issues.
Background of Problem
A brief review of background information regarding third culture kids will now be
presented. Information about student support programs and Lewis and Clark College will follow
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 8
in order to provide context for the problem that this study will address. A more in depth review
will be presented in the second chapter of this study.
Third Culture Kids
Increased internationalization throughout the world brings an increase in global
population movement along with it. Included in this population movement are those who leave
their home country and live for an extended period of time in one or more other countries. In the
case of families, this often means that children are brought up in a country and culture that is not
the same as that of their home culture. These children have been termed ‘third culture kid’ (J.
Useem, Donoghue, & Useem, 1963), ‘global nomad’ (Schaetti, 1998), and even ‘internationally
mobile children’ (McLachlan, 2007). Regardless of the name, they all share one common bond:
it is often difficult for these students to be identified and assisted when they transition to college.
While these students may share some of the difficulties that international students do in terms of
adjustment, they may be seen as part of a domestic student body, because of their passport status.
Alternatively, these students may be viewed as international students although their cultural
experiences have been more similar to the dominant culture they are surrounded by in college.
In previous studies, third culture kid students have been defined as a ‘hidden immigrant’
population in their home country (Jennison Smith, 2011; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009; Sellers,
2011; Weigel, 2010). The hidden immigrant title comes from the belief that these students may
look like those around them, but they think and act differently due to their cross cultural
experiences. The hidden immigrant designation is part of the PolVan Cultural Identity model
(Pollock & Van Reken, 2009), which is a matrix that analyzes the relationship between an
individual’s identity and the culture they are currently inhabiting, and is displayed in Table 1.

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 9
Table 1
The PolVan Cultural Identity Model: Cultural Identity in Relationship to Surrounding Culture
Foreigner
Look different
Think different
Hidden Immigrant
Look alike
Think different
Adopted
Look different
Think alike
Mirror
Look alike
Think alike

As previously mentioned, third culture kids are often termed “Hidden Immigrants” when they
return to their home culture. This is because although they may be similar in appearance to those
around them, they do not always think like those around them. According to the Cultural
Identity matrix, those people who both look different and think differently from the surrounding
culture are categorized as “foreigners”. Individuals who both look and think like those around
them, and who are termed “mirrors”, while those who look different but think like those around
them are defined as “adopted”. This matrix is useful when considering the cultural identity of
people in cross-cultural transition, because it can expand the concept of “other” beyond a
dichotomous Other and Same designation. This model also recognizes that cultural identity can
be defined by considering the culture around an individual. For third culture kids, this cultural
identity matrix may be useful to help illustrate the challenges that they face. Before they leave
their home culture, they could be considered “mirrors” of that culture, however in moving to
another culture, many third culture kids would identify with both the “foreigner” and “adopted”
positions on the matrix, depending on their experiences while abroad. It is only when they return
to their home culture that third culture kids make the final transition to “hidden immigrant”, and
have to learn how to adapt to a culture that is theirs.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 10
There is no definitive data on the number of U.S. third culture kids. In the early 1980’s,
one conservative estimate put the number of U.S. third culture kids at 300,000 (Gerner, Perry,
Moselle, & Archbold, 1992). More recent studies have been unable to even estimate the number
of children abroad, and have only stated that more than four million U.S. Americans, including
dependants, lived abroad during 2004 (Thurston-Gonzalez, 2009; Weigel, 2010), which was the
most recent data available at the time of writing. As a result, this population is marginalized
because of their ability to blend in with those around them. In addition, because there is no solid
data on the number of students, they have not always been easily identified or supported.
Previous research on the third culture kid population, while scarce, has shown that these
students struggle during their transition to the first year in college for many reasons (Gaw, 2000;
Jordan, 1981; Sellers, 2011; Weigel, 2010). As with many college students, third culture kids
tend to struggle with questions of identity and belonging. Third culture kids also have issues
with cultural adaptation, similar to international students. Many third culture kids are
repatriating to their home country for the first time while entering college, leading to a cultural
and personal identity struggle, which can lead to difficulties in other areas of college.
Data and research on third culture kids have shown that many of them struggle to create
connections on their college campuses (Gaw, 2000; Jordan, 1981; Weigel, 2010). There are a
few select institutions that have begun to cater to this population in a variety of ways. The
University of the Pacific in California (n.d.) is one school with programs for third culture kids;
they support these students by encouraging them to attend the transition seminars the school
offers for students returning from study abroad. The University of Pacific also encourages third
culture kid students, with their wide variety of international experiences, to consider majors
offered through their School of International Studies (University of the Pacific, n.d.). Other
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 11
schools have less institutionalized support systems for third culture kids, with student run
organizations and clubs that form a support network for returning third culture kid students
(American University, n.d.; Azusa Pacific University, n.d.). These organizations and clubs are
run by the students, for the students at the institution. Colorado State University has chosen to
create living and learning communities where international, domestic and third culture kid
students can live and learn from each other (Colorado State University, n.d.). While these
communities are not directly targeted toward third culture kid students, they are welcoming to
students who have lived in other cultures, and who may be looking to connect with other cross-
cultural students. Still other schools (College of Wooster, n.d.; Lewis & Clark College, n.d.e)
have worked to incorporate support of third culture kid students into their international student
services, and create broader venues of international support for the population. These services
offered are similar to those that have been created to support other types of marginalized student
populations.
Support Programs
College students who struggle with the transition to higher education often come from a
marginalized student population, such as first generation college students, ethnic minority
students, or students with a low socio-economic status (Museus & Neville, 2012). As a response
to the various marginalized student populations, many higher education institutions have begun
to create support programs and offices for incoming students (L. Patton, 2006a, 2006b).
Affiliations with the organizations vary: students can choose to join groups based on their
religion, ethnicity, cultural heritage, gender or sexual identification, or another important self-
identified aspect in their life. The literature on college students often links engagement with
persistence, showing that students who are more engaged in the institution, whether through
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 12
student organizations, finding mentorship relations, or academic engagement, are more likely to
remain at the institution (Astin, 1999; Tinto, 1975). While student support centers and programs
are common for many types of students, only recently have institutions begun to cater to the third
culture kid population (Sellers, 2011). There has been little research to date on how a program
like the one at Lewis and Clark College is integrated into the lives of third culture students on the
campus.
Lewis and Clark College
Lewis and Clark College is a small, private, liberal arts college located in Portland,
Oregon. There are approximately 2,000 undergraduate students in the College of Arts &
Sciences, and a combined 1,500 graduate students in the Law School and Graduate School of
Education and Counseling (Lewis and Clark College, n.d.b). The school was founded as a
Presbyterian affiliated school, but has since severed ties with the Presbyterian denomination
(Lewis and Clark College, n.d.a). Undergraduate students in the College of Arts & Sciences can
pursue Bachelor of Arts degrees in one of 28 majors (Lewis and Clark College, n.d.c), and the
school has a long history of promoting globalization among its students, having started their
study abroad trips in 1962, with at least sixty percent of students studying abroad during their
time at the school (Lewis and Clark College, n.d.d). In addition, the school reports having 45
Fulbright Scholarships and 22 Goldwater Scholarships awarded to undergraduates since 1997
(Lewis and Clark College, n.d.c).
The Third Culture Kid program at Lewis and Clark College was founded in 1992 (Lewis
and Clark College, n.d.e), and has been a part of the International Students and Scholars office at
Lewis and Clark since then. The school estimates that there are 130 undergraduate students who
identify as Third Culture individuals attending Lewis and Clark College (n.d.e) at the time of the
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 13
conduct of this study. The Third Culture Kid program is mostly student driven, with an advisory
board comprised of at least eight undergraduate students and an undergraduate student intern
who is a part-time student employee of the International Students and Scholars Office. This
student intern works to facilitate the activities that the office coordinates for the third culture
students, including career workshops and social gatherings on and off campus (Lewis and Clark
College, n.d.e).
Statement of the Problem
Information about the third culture kid population is outdated, with the last major study
done on a large group of third culture kids published in 2002 by Cottrell. In addition, existing
studies provide no information regarding the institutional support systems offered to third culture
kids. While the identification of the third culture kid experience occurred in 1963 (J. Useem,
Donoghue, & R.H. Useem), the majority of the research was done in 1970s and 1980s (Downie,
1976; Gleason, 1973; Jordan, 1981). There has been a recent upswing within the past decade in
research on various third culture kid student issues, but none of the studies to date have looked
specifically at third culture kids and the support systems that exist for them in higher educational
institutions. Previous literature (Downie, 1976; Gaw, 2000; Gilbert, 2008; Jordan, 1981; Weigel,
2010) suggests that third culture kid students are a unique population, who share similarities with
both domestic and international students, but who face their own challenges during college.
Third culture kid students often identify with multiple cultures, feeling at home everywhere and
nowhere at the same time (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009).
For students who do not identify with a majority culture, one way that institutions of
higher education assist in the challenges of transition is by providing support centers or groups.
Support centers can be based on cultural, racial, or gender identification. Support groups tend to
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 14
be student driven, and are also usually based on identification of a shared characteristic. With
the few exceptions, mentioned previously, third culture kids do not appear to be a population that
has benefited from the existence of support centers to assist in their transition to higher
education.
As yet undetermined is whether this lack of support is because the third culture kid
population is being overlooked by institutions because they do not know of, or understand third
culture kid issues, or whether institutions have decided, based on previous experience with third
culture kid students, that the population is actually not unique enough to merit their own special
focus.
Purpose of the Study
Because there are several different types of programs (institutionally-run, student-run,
etc.) that have been created to assist third culture kid students, this study focuses only on one
type of program. While there are a variety of support models for marginalized students, the most
common is a support system that is institutionally backed (Jones, Castellanos, & Cole, 2002). In
order to expand the research about the third culture kid student population and how higher
education institutions can assist these students, this study concentrates on a school that has
included the third culture kid population in their international student services, Lewis and Clark
College.
This study will help institutions and student affairs professionals determine whether or
not it is necessary, feasible, or appropriate to have an integrated support system for third culture
kid students. Given that the subject of this study is one small, liberal arts school in the Pacific
Northwest, the generalizability of the study may be limited. It is hoped that the information
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 15
provided here will be beneficial to institutions with a third culture kid population, regardless of
shared characteristics with the case site.
This study investigates student support services for third culture kid students at one
school that provides a support program for third culture kids and determines:
1. How the services are intended to benefit the students;
2. Whether the students believe that they benefit from the services provided to them;
3. Whether the benefits that students identify (if any) mirror the benefits intended by the
program.
The purpose of this study is to understand the third culture kid population presently at
Lewis & Clark College, and to analyze the support program at the institution, particularly how it
was created, how it operates, it’s intended outcomes, and how students engage with the program.
This analysis was done in a case study format, and will involve interviews and observations of
the Third Culture Kid program at Lewis and Clark College. The case study format allows for the
inquiry to be bounded and focused specifically on the program and the students that it helps.
The driving research questions of this study were:
1. What are the objectives of the International Students and Scholars office with regard to
third culture students?
2. What factors led Lewis and Clark to create the Third Culture Kid organization?
a. What were the objectives of the program when it was founded?
b. What are the current objectives of the program, if different from when it was
founded?
3. What are the services that the Third Culture Kid organization provides, and how are they
aimed at benefiting third culture kid students?
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 16
a. Do the students believe that they benefit from the support of the office? If so,
how do they believe they benefit?
Significance of the Study
Much of the research on third culture children has investigated these students while they
are still in secondary schools, been limited to their experiences in their first year in college, or
was completed in an era before the advent of the internet, which has made communicating with
long-distance family and friends easier. As a result, while the previous studies provide a good
starting point, they are not always applicable to the modern third culture kid, who is not
necessarily as excluded from a community when they move to a new place. In addition, no other
previous studies have investigated the relationship between institutional support programs and
third culture kid transition to higher education. In her 2010 study, Weigel found that support was
one common theme that assisted in the transition of third culture kids. Other themes were the
concepts of identity, relationship with peers, culture shock, and home (Weigel, 2010). This
study builds on this research by focusing on third culture students, and the type of support that
they receive at one school. In doing so, this study provides a modern view into the support of
current third culture students. This study also provides analysis and findings that will assist both
scholars and practitioners who are interested in third culture kid concerns.
This study analyzes a third culture kid student support program, as well as the students
who have used the services targeted for them, and examines the effectiveness of the support
program offered. Current research on third culture kid support programs is very limited, and
research on the support systems that are offered by centers or student programming is also
limited. Taking a closer look a third culture kid support program, allowed the practices of that
program to be discovered. This provides a framework for other institutions who wish to assist
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 17
their own third culture kid population. While these institutions may not be able to replicate the
study, the findings of this study provide a good starting point for student affairs practitioners in
other schools.
Limitations
This study has several limitations that could impact the generalizability of the findings.
The first is that the study has a small sample size. Lewis and Clark College is a small college
with less than 2,000 undergraduate students enrolled, of whom, approximately 130 identify as
third culture students (Lewis and Clark College, n.d.b, n.d.e). As a result, the population of
students who make use of the Third Culture Kids program is small, and the sample of that
population is also limited.
Additionally, the population of third culture kids at Lewis and Clark may be distinct or
different than third culture students found at other institutions. Performing a case study on such
a population could result in data that is not generalizable or transferrable to other institutions.
However, the case study format allowed this research to focus in on and analyze one type of
institutional response to the third culture kid population.
Initially, this study was planned to focus only on American third culture kids at Lewis
and Clark, however in the course of the study, it was discovered that there were many
international third culture students at the institution. In order to capture a true representation of
the program, the study’s definition was broadened to include all third culture kids at Lewis and
Clark, regardless of citizenship.
A final limitation of the study relates to author bias. The researcher for this study
identifies as a third culture kid, the experience was six years spent abroad during elementary and
early secondary school. In order to restrict author bias, the researcher has chosen to study an
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 18
aspect of third culture kid transition that is not within the previous scope of knowledge. While
the researcher has a broad understanding of third culture kid experiences, there is no specific
knowledge about this school or support program. For this reason, an institutional case study was
chosen, as it will require the researcher to create a broad understanding of the campus and
program, prior to triangulating data from interviews, documents and observations to verify any
findings.
Delimitations
This study is also constrained by what was not studied. The study was conducted at
Lewis and Clark College, and did not examine the third culture kid experience at other
institutions. The population of students who identify as third culture kids at the institution was
approximately 130, and not all sub-populations of third culture kid students, such as military
dependents or missionary kids were represented at the institution. As a result, there are some
types of third culture kids who are not included in this research.
This study did not examine the international student experience separate from the third
culture experience at Lewis and Clark College in depth. Although the populations share some
similarities, the focus of this study was an analysis of the third culture kid student experience
while at Lewis and Clark.
Organization of the Study
In the next chapter, relevant literature on international students, third culture students and
student support programs will be reviewed. A framework to assist in the data analysis will also
be presented and broken down. In the third chapter, the research methodology will be discussed,
including information on sample selection, interview protocols, and triangulation. Chapter Four
will present the data that was discovered in the course of this study, while the final chapter
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 19
features a discussion of the data. Also included in the final chapter are recommendations for
future research.
Definition of Terms
Because of the specific nature of this study and the terms surrounding this area of
research, it is necessary to ensure that these terms are defined before proceeding.
Third Culture Kid – For the purposes of this dissertation, the term third culture kid or third
culture student will be used and will be defined as: A student who has lived outside of their home
culture due to their parents’ work between ages 4-18, and who self-identifies as a Third Culture
Kid.
The definition of Third Culture Kid according to Pollock and Van Reken (2009) is: “A
person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’
culture” (p. 13). Restricting this definition to those who lived abroad due to their parents’ work
is done to ensure that students who chose to leave their home culture, in order to attend a United
World College secondary school, for example, are excluded from the study population. Students
at these types of secondary schools are often restricted to their campus, and do not have many
options to interact with the local culture.
Although most third culture kid definitions include ages 0-4, this study’s definition does
not include those ages, because of developmental factors that restrict the adoption of culture
prior to the point when explicit memory is created (Santrock, 2009). Third culture kid students
at Lewis and Clark are self-identified during the application process, which is why the self-
identification clause is important to this definition.
The terms internationally mobile, global nomad and third culture kid are sometimes used
interchangeably in other research; some researchers dislike using the term “kid” for those who
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 20
are no longer kids, and have begun using the term global nomad, while others simply use Adult
Third Culture Kid. The term third culture kid is the preferred term at Lewis and Clark College,
thus, this language is used in this study.
Host Country – the country that a student, or their family, is residing in, which is not their
passport country.
Home Country – also known as passport country, this is the country that a third culture kid’s
family defines as their home. Often, third culture kids may not have grown up in this country.
This may also be their country of citizenship, but caution must be used when tying citizenship an
home country, as some third culture kids have multiple citizenships, but define themselves as
having one particular home country.
Co-Cultural – people who share cultural experiences and lenses as a result of their home
culture. These people do not necessarily share a nationality, but often originate from the same
region of the world.
Culture Shock – the experience of cultural expectations not matching actions in a new culture.

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 21
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
The transition to college is similar for all types of new students (challenges with
academics, social support network). But each “marginalized” population has its own challenges
(International, First-Generation, Transfers, Veterans, etc.). Following a brief introduction, a
review of international student literature will be conducted. While international students and
third culture students are not exactly the same, they do share many similarities while
transitioning to college in a new culture. Then, literature relating to third culture kid student
issues will be reviewed using the framework that formed the foundation for data analysis for this
study. Finally, a brief review of higher education support centers and programs will be
conducted.
Research on the third culture kid population has been cyclical in nature. Many studies
were done on the population in the 1970s and 1980s. The past decade has begun to see another
rise in the number of studies, although the field is still not widely known or researched. With the
rising number of global interactions of all types, research into the affects of globalization is
important because it will clarify the support systems that third culture students need. It has been
proposed that globalization is beginning to influence each generation more, and is impacting
identity formation in the children who are exposed to it (Arnett, 2002; Willis, Enloe, & Minoura,
1994). Willis, Enloe, & Minoura (1994) discuss the impact of purposeful moving on children; as
opposed to immigration, where families often do not have much choice about leaving, purposeful
moving occurs when a family decides to seize the potential that a move is offering them. While
third culture kids are not directly addressed, they are a part of the population that Willis et al.
(1994) are referring to, and thus their discussion of new ways of creating culture in an
international world is applicable to this group. Arnett (2002) refers more specifically to the
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 22
impact of globalization and wealth on identity development. He posits that in developed nations,
a phenomenon known as delayed adolescence impacts the development of an adult identity. The
adult identity formation is being delayed because there is no urge for many young adults to
provide for their families and help support them as in generations past. Previous research on
third culture kids has found that many struggle with issues with identity development (Downie,
1976; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009), and issues of delayed adolescence (R. H. Useem & Cottrell,
1993) so it is not unexpected for Arnett (2002) to make this connection and determine that youth
who have had global or international experiences also experiencing a longer period of
adolescence.
This delayed adolescence is only one characteristic of third culture kid students, and as
Arnett (2002) proposes, most students in developed nations. In these countries, students are
attending college at higher rates than ever before, and as a part of that, many of them are
encountering identity challenges that they have not encountered previously. For international
students, encountering the identity challenges that are expected during the college transition is
accomplished at the same time as other challenges to their cultural identity.
International Students
Much of the literature on third culture kids does not acknowledge similarities that the
population shares with international students. While not all of their experiences are the same,
both are involved in a transition process that can expose them to new educational and cultural
experiences. In addition, the international student population is more widely researched and
assisted than the third culture kid population. For this reason, a literature review of international
student experiences with the transition to college provides a critical basis for understanding this
study.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 23
For international students, the transition to college in a host country involves many
changes. Many international students struggle with the same issues that most new college
students encounter (Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007). They must work to create a new social support
network and encounter a different academic culture. These students also must work on adjusting
to a new home, and are at an identity development stage where they are also working on
determining who they are as individuals (Church, 1982).
There is evidence that a student’s home country can play a role in the adaptation
experience that international students have, with students coming from Western countries to the
United States having a somewhat less stressful experience than Asian students (Atebe, 2011;
Church, 1982; Gill, 2012; Poyrazli, Kavanaugh, Baker, & Al-Timimi, 2004). Similarities in
culture and language are often cited as reasons why European students might have a less stressful
acculturation process. Church (1982) found that the culture of the international students’ home
country was just one of the variables which affected the adjustment process of international
students. The other variables that have been analyzed in the body of international student
literature focus on status, previous cross-cultural experience, and peer interaction (Church,
1982). While international students may come from a place of high status in their home country,
their status in the United States is often different, and this can lead to acculturation issues for
some international students. Previous cross cultural experience is believed to contribute to
acculturation because previous positive experiences are thought to lead to a better adjustment in
later moves. Peer interaction with co-culturals and host country nationals has also been found as
a variable, which will be analyzed later in this review in the section on international student life.
According to Gu, Schweisfurth, and Day (2010), the nature of the transition that an
international student experiences has four sources of influence. These are the institution,
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 24
including support services, instructors and ways of teaching; the student life that one creates,
which focuses on the friendship patterns, accommodations and other issues of daily living; the
student’s personal attitudes and characteristics, which houses language ability, attitudes and
internal states of being; and finally, the attributes of their home, including parents and family
relationships (Gu, Schweisfurth, & Day, 2010). Much of the literature on international students’
college transition can be similarly structured, with information focusing on the contributions of
the institution, student life, personal attitudes and home culture. This division will help structure
the following review of literature relating to international students.
Institution
Institutional influences that can assist in the transition of international students come in
many forms, from peer mentor programs to international student offices that work to support
each student. Because this study is focused on one institution’s response to the presence of third
culture kids, it is important to see how other institutions are responding to populations with
similar needs. Not only is it important for the institution to support international students, but it
is also important for students to understand that they are being supported, and view that support
as effective. Data on international student adjustment as influenced by each institution is usually
specific to that institution, and not easily generalizable. Much of the research focuses on best
practices of a single institution (Abe, Talbot, & Geelhoed, 1998; Atebe, 2011; Ikwuagwu, 2010),
in the hopes that these practices can be effectively utilized at other institutions.
The peer mentorship program studied by Abe, Talbot, & Geelhoed (1998) paired an
international student with a domestic student for a semester. Student pairings were done early
enough that the mentorship pairs could communicate with each other before the semester started.
In the fall semester, scheduled events were coordinated by student affairs organizations at the
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 25
institution. Peer pairs had the opportunity to attend the organized events and also to meet on
their own. Compared to a control group of international students who had no domestic peer
mentor, the paired international students were found to know more about and use campus
resources more often (Abe et al., 1998). The peer mentored students in the study also self-
reported social adjustment at a higher level than non-mentored international students. Students
who participated in the mentoring process also reported that the institution’s international student
office was essential to their on-campus adjustment. A peer mentor program for third culture
students could share similarities with that described by Abe et al. (1998), and offer third culture
students an opportunity to create ties to the institution early on.
Another institutionally structured interaction, although with less coordination than peer
mentoring, was found in Coles and Swami’s (2012) study of the role that institutional structures
played in facilitating international student adjustment. While institutionally sponsored
opportunities for social interaction were plentiful at the beginning of a semester, international
students reported that these interactions tended to drop off toward the end of the semester, when
students felt these interactions would have been more positive. At the study site, international
students ended up increasing their involvement with co-cultural friends, and decreasing their
involvement with host country associates as the term progressed (Coles & Swami, 2012). In
addition, most of the interactions with host country associates was deemed superficial, and did
not meet the expectations of the students. This could pose an issue for third culture students who
hope that the institution will continue to foster ties with host country students.
Atebe (2011) analyzed adaptation to academic, institutional and social settings. The
study found that international students reported it was easier to adapt to classroom based
academic experiences as opposed to institutional or social experiences. The students in this
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 26
study were unsatisfied with many of the student support services that they encountered, feeling
that the programs were not tailored to meet the varied needs of different international student
populations (Atebe, 2011). The findings from this study validated the research done by Church
(1982) who found that for international students, adjustment to the academic and professional
areas may come more easily than adjustment to the social aspects of a new culture.
Ikwuagwu (2010) also found similar results as Atebe (2010) and Church (1982), with
international students at one public institution reporting that advising and instruction were the
institutional supports that were most important to them. Fortunately, in this study, these were
also the areas where these students felt their expectations were most fulfilled (Ikwuagwu, 2010).
The areas where students’ expectations were unfulfilled and where the students felt unsupported
were in the realms of social culture and student support services. Roberts and Dunworth (2012),
also found that institutions must ensure that student support services are designed and delivered
in a student centered manner. In that study, both staff and international students agreed that the
institution was not student centered, which created issues for the international students’ cultural
adjustment. Third culture students, who may have transitioned to several different schools may
also find that their adaptation to the classroom is easier, because it is a relatively familiar space,
while social adaptation takes longer.
In addition to student services, international student presence in classrooms offers an
opportunity to help students adapt to the new surrounding culture. Mamiseishvili (2012) found
that international student academic performance, including GPA, degree goals, and classroom
integration, played a key role in persistence, or degree attainment, for international students.
Mamiseishvili (2012) and two other studies (Arkoudis et al., 2012; Cruickshank, Chen &
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 27
Warren, 2012) also found that structured, in-class activities led to increased academic and social
integration of international students.
Institutional support for international students comes in many forms, but the resounding
theme throughout the research is that while the academic aspect of the institutional transition is
usually successfully managed, there are other areas that are not. The peer mentor program
studied by Abe et al. (1998) showed that there are ways for institutions to assist in both the social
and academic transition of international students. In their transition to college, many students,
third culture kids included, may be helped by working with a peer mentor, who can explain to
new students the issues that they might encounter in their first few weeks and semesters on the
campus.
Student Life
One of the most important factors in the adjustment of new students is finding a social
support system (de Araujo, 2011). International students have the option of creating a co-
cultural support system, comprised of students who come from cultures similar to them, creating
a host national support system, comprised of students who are from the host country, or creating
some sort of hybrid system, where they have the support of both other international students and
host country students. Literature on these support systems has shown that many international
students retain some co-cultural friends in their circles (de Araujo, 2011; Hendrickson, Rosen &
Aune, 2011; Poyrazli et al., 2004). These co-cultural friendships have been shown to increase
acculturation stress, defined as a decrease in general healthiness, in some international students.
In a small study on international students and friendship networks, Hendrickson et al.
(2011) found that both undergraduate and graduate international students who had host national
friends were more connected with the surrounding environment, were less homesick, and were
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 28
more satisfied with their international experience. In the same study, international students who
had more co-cultural friends were found to have lower academic achievement. There are
limitations to these findings, however, as the study participants were drawn from an organization
that focused on facilitating international student interaction with host country residents. Another
limitation of the study was the fact that it was performed in Hawai’i, a culture that is already
somewhat cross-cultural in nature (Hendrickson et al., 2011). A separate study done by Poyrazli
et al. (2004) found that social support, measured by personal resources available to each student,
had the potential to reduce the stress levels of international students; international students who
only associated with co-cultural students instead of American students or a mixture of American
and co-cultural students were found to have increased stress levels. This study also had
limitations – a small sample size and low response rate create data with low generalizability.
The type of friends that international students had was also dependent on their location,
according to Gareis (2012). International students in non-metro areas (defined as medium size
cities or towns in both the Northeastern and Southern United States) were more likely to have
host national friends than co-cultural friends than students in metro areas (New York City).
Students in these non-metro areas were more able to meet host country friends, and less able to
restrict their social circle to co-cultural friendships. In addition, the same study found Western
and Anglophone students were more likely than non-Western students to have host national
friends (Gareis, 2012), echoing the findings of Kim and McKay-Semmler (2013), who found that
European international students were more likely to have close American friends than were
Asian international students.
Although previous studies found that students with co-cultural social support networks
were more likely to have acculturative stress, another study found that international students
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 29
were more likely to have other international students (though not necessarily co-cultural
students) as friends in their support networks (Rajapaksa & Dundes, 2002). This study also
found that the number of friends that international students have does not impact their social
adjustment. Unfortunately, this study also had a small sample size, and it did not clearly define
the term “friend” for the respondents. Because different cultures have varying definitions of
what the term “friend” means (Rajapaksa & Dundes, 2002), this could significantly contribute to
the findings.
Acculturative stress was also found to be exacerbated by exposure to discrimination
against international students in the host country (Gill, 2012). In a study of graduate and
undergraduate students at a large state school on the West Coast, Gill (2012) found that students
who had lived in the United States the longest were most likely to report that they had
experienced discrimination, whether it was based on their race and ethnicity, or based on their
foreigner status. Support from their home countries and also from American students led to a
decrease in acculturative stress, but did not completely negate the stress caused by
discrimination.
The use of online social networks has also been studied in relation to their impact on
international student adjustment. Results showed that sites like Facebook help international
students create one type of social capital and ease students’ social adjustment (Lin, Peng, Kim,
Kim, & LaRose, 2011). The study looked at the creation of two types of social capital using
social media. Bonding social capital is created through strong relationship ties, while bridging
social capital works to connect different social networks together. Both types of social capital
are necessary for social adjustment into any new situation. International students who spent time
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 30
on Facebook with host country friends were able to increase their bridging social capital with
those friends, which helped contribute to a less stressful social adjustment (Lin et al., 2011).
In addition to using online social networks for social capital building, international
students are also beginning to use these sites for “everyday life information seeking” (Sin &
Kim, 2013, p. 107). International students were found to use the sites to gather data on financial
concerns, health information, and news from their home countries. This study did not look at the
impact on adjusting of maintaining connections with the home country this way, but did find that
younger international students were more likely to use social networking sites in this fashion (Sin
& Kim, 2013). This could be important for third culture kid students, who might find Facebook
and other social media sites a good way to keep in touch with friends from former home
communities, find out information about their new locations, and also to make connections with
other students at their current schools.
Zhao, Kuh, & Carini (2005) performed a study that used data from the National Survey
on Student Engagement (NSSE) from multiple institutions nationwide, and looked at the amount
of time that was spent on academically related tasks for both international and American
students. The NSSE covers a broad range of questions that are meant to help institutions
understand how students are engaging in an institution (National Survey of Student Engagement,
2012). In their study, Zhao, Kuh, & Carini (2005) found that international students in their first
year were more interested in academic tasks than their American student peers. First year
international students also reported spending less time relaxing and socializing with other
students than their American peers. Interestingly, by the time international students reached their
senior years in a college or university, they were still reporting the same high level of academic
involvement as in their first year, but were now also reportedly spending more time relaxing and
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 31
in social interaction; these students were now on par with the time spent in socializing by
American students.
Through their friendship and social support networks with host national students,
international students have the ability to ease their social transition to their host country. Studies
have found, however, that international students tend to create their own social support networks
from co-cultural students, or not spend as much time socializing as host country students, thus
depriving them of their chance to establish a supportive network. These findings could carry
many implications for third culture kid students. It is possible that by creating a network of third
culture kids to assist them with their transition to an institution, the students could end up
forming bonds similar to those in the co-cultural groups that international students form. This
could impact the level of support that third culture kids are able to find at a school; by isolating
themselves, they may not be able to make connections with the domestic students at an
institution, and lose an opportunity to create broader social support networks.
In the research, one of the most common reasons for students to create these co-cultural
networks is that they feel their English is not proficient enough to facilitate host country
friendships. This lack of proficiency is addressed next, as part of each student’s personal
attitudes, which is another area that can facilitate international student social adjustment.
Student life and student engagement is one area where international students can struggle to
adapt to a new college setting. Although third culture kid students do not identify as
international students, they share many characteristics with international students; one area of
challenge for both students is adapting to a new location and finding friends or making
connections with peers.

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 32
Personal Attitudes and Characteristics
The personal attitudes that can influence international students’ adjustment are unique to
each student. However, there are some common links among international students that have
been studied. Language proficiency (Abe et al., 1998; de Araujo, 2011; Poyrazli & Grahame,
2007; Poyrazli et al., 2004; Sawir, Marginson, Forbes-Mewett, Nyland & Ramia, 2012) and
cultural identity with both the home and host culture (Simonis, 2012; Sussman, 2002; Ward &
Searle, 1991) are two key areas that can impact the adjustment process of international students.
Language proficiency, or lack thereof, has been found to have a strong impact on the
adjustment processes of international students. Although most third culture kid students in this
study may not necessarily have issues understanding English, they may not have a full day to day
use of slang, or they may use slang that is not common in America. An example would be
students who use the British term “boot” when the American term is “trunk.” Another challenge
could be third culture kid students who have grown up attending local schools, where instruction
is not in English, and they only use English when they speak in their home. As a result, they
may not have a complete grasp of academic English, which is somewhat different than day to
day English. Encountering language challenges could cause third culture kids the same type of
difficulty that international students have encountered.
In one study, European and Asian students encountered very different peer reactions to
their accents (Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007). European students reported finding little to no
difficulty in making themselves understood, while Asian students’ accents were treated as an
impediment to interacting with others. In that same study, students reported that most faculty
members were willing to work with them in understanding course material, although some
faculty merely encouraged students to use the English as a Second Language services that the
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 33
institution provided (Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007). A separate study (Poyrazli et al., 2004) also
found that proficiency in English and an international student’s ethnicity were related to student
stress levels. Low English proficiency was related to higher levels of stress among international
students. In the same study, Europeans were also found to have lower stress levels than Asian
students, echoing other findings that Europeans may face a less challenging transition than
international students from other cultures (Poyrazli et al., 2004).
A different study (Sawir et al., 2012) found not only that English language proficiency
ensured that international students could communicate with host country nationals, but also gave
them a sense of security and feeling safe during their international study experience. English
language proficiency is one overt way to measure how well a student might be able to adjust to
an international experience. As stated before, while third culture kids may not face exactly the
same challenges as international students, it could be possible for them to similarly encounter
some difficulty in making themselves understood. Not all predictors of adjustment are so overt;
cultural identity has been studied as another way to predict adjustment of international
sojourners.
The link to home culture identity, and whether it is a weak or strong link, has been shown
to have an effect on the transition process for international travelers (Simonis, 2012; Sussman,
2002; Ward & Searle, 1991). In looking at the international student population at three
universities in New Zealand, Ward and Searle (1991) found that the psychological adjustment of
international students could be predicted by the level of similarity their home culture shared with
that of New Zealand. Students who came from cultures that were dissimilar to New Zealand
were more likely to have difficulties in their psychological adjustment to the country.
Additionally, Ward & Searle found that the stronger the home culture association students had,
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 34
the more likely they were to have difficulties adjusting to the socio-cultural environment of New
Zealand.
Simonis (2012) investigated what she called “hybridization” of international students on
an American college campus. By this, she meant the students who adapt to American culture
while studying abroad, and become older third culture students. This study found that the
international students who immersed themselves in American culture may encounter challenges
when they visit or return to their home country. According to Simonis (2012), this cultural
adaptation is unconscious on the part of the international student, and is only noticed when the
student attempts to return home.
Sussman’s (2002) study of repatriating adults looked at Americans who had international
experiences in Japan, and found that those returnees who had a weak home culture identity and a
strong host culture identity suffered from the most psychological distress when returning. While
this study looked at a different point in the internationalization process (that of returnees, instead
of travelers), the concepts can still be found to be the same. Psychological distress was
encountered by those who had created strong ties to the culture they were leaving, and had weak
ties to the culture that they were entering. For third culture kids, the issue of cultural
identification could be one of the issues where they have the most similarity with international
students. By definition third culture kids have taken pieces of the cultures that they have been
exposed to, and combined them all to create a conglomeration of cultures. As a result, there may
be third culture kids who identify strongly with the host culture that they are leaving, and do not
identify at all, or identify very little, with the culture of their passport country. According to the
Sussman (2002), this could impact the transition process that they have, and make it very
challenging for these students to acculturate back into their home culture. This topic will be
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 35
addressed in further detail later in this chapter, when the literature relating to third culture
students and culture shock is reviewed.
Another way that third culture kids could find themselves set apart from domestic
students, and more similar to international students, is in dealing with stress. In a comparison
study that evaluated American and international student levels of academic stress, which can be
attributed to personal attitudes, Misra & Castillo (2004) found that American students perceived
higher levels of academic stress than their international counterparts. The stress that American
students reported was more self-imposed, while the international student stress resulted more
from pressure, as measured by deadlines and competition among other students. When
compared with the earlier findings that international students found the academic transition to be
less demanding than the social transition, these findings are not surprising, but they help to
illustrate one more way that personal attributes may impact the adjustment of international
students. Third culture kids, who have been raised by U.S. standards, but who have been
exposed to international expectations, may find themselves experiencing stress at different levels
and rates than those around them, which is just one other way that they could feel marginalized
at an institution.
Home
Of the four influences on international students, the concept of home is the least
investigated. However, international students have reported that family and relationships with
family are of key importance to them (Parr, Bradley, & Bingi, 1992; Roberts, 2009). In their
study of international students’ concerns, Parr, Bradley, and Bingi (1992) found that the topic
that most concerned the international students was that of family. Students were concerned with
the quality and number of contacts that they had with their families while studying
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 36
internationally. After family concerns, the other issues that students were worried about were
how they were going to handle cultural and school differences – both themes in other areas that
influence student adaptation to the host country.
Roberts (2009) found that while both American and international students were
concerned with the career and personal benefits that college would give them, international
students were more concerned with their family happiness than American students. For the
international students, college was about more than just bettering themselves, it was a way to
make their families happy also. In contrast, American students were more concerned with
leadership opportunities and with meeting people than with family issues. Third culture kid
students, who identify with multiple cultures may have different expectations of the benefits they
will derive from college.
For third culture kids, as will be described later, the concept of home is challenging
(Hoersting & Jenkins, 2011). These students may feel as though they have no defined home, or
the place they consider home may no longer be available to them, either because the family is no
longer residing there, or because their experience of home in a host culture was through the lens
of privileged expatriate, instead of local citizen. Much of the literature on third culture kids has
shown that internationally mobile families tend to be extremely close with each other, because
often, the family unit is what serves as home, as opposed to a physical place (Fail, 1996;
McLachlan, 2004). While this aspect of home may be different for international and third
culture kid students, it is evident that home is a place of importance to sojourners, such as
international and third culture students, and must be considered.
International students struggle with many adjustments that they must make when they
travel to a different country for their education. Concerns arise over how they will handle the
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 37
transitions, and it has been found that there are four overarching areas that can influence the
experience that these students have. Institutions, student life, personal attributes, and home can
all play a role in the adaptation process of international students. Institutions can facilitate
international student adaptation by providing peer mentoring programs (Abe et al., 1998) and
international student services offices (Atebe, 2011; Church, 1982; Ikwuagwu, 2010). For
international students to successfully adjust to student life, creation of co-cultural and host
national friendships is imperative (de Araujo, 2011; Hendrickson et al., 2011; Lin et al., 2011;
Poyrazli et al., 2004; Rajapaksa & Dundes, 2002). The personal attributes that international
students have, such as language proficiency (Abe et al., 1998; de Araujo, 2011; Poyrazli &
Grahame, 2007; Poyrazli et al., 2004) and cultural identity (Sussman, 2002; Ward & Searle,
1991) can also affect the type of transition that the international students have. International
students’ adaptation to their host country is also influenced by their ties to the family and friends
in their country of origin (Parr, Bradley, & Bingi, 1992; Roberts, 2009). Only if all four of these
areas are addressed will international students be able to successfully adapt to their host country.
It is important to understand the current research on international student adaptation to college
for this study, because although third culture kid students may have some different experiences
when compared to international students, higher education institutions such as Lewis and Clark
College combine their third culture kid student services (if they have any) with the services that
they offer to international students. Having reviewed the literature on international students, the
literature and research on third culture kid students will help provide more depth of
understanding for this study.

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 38
Third Culture Kid Students
While international students and third culture kid students have some similarities when
confronting cross cultural transitions, each population has been viewed as unique in the
literature. One example of the similarities of international, American third culture, and domestic
American students can be found in a study comparing the attitudes of American third culture
students, domestic American students, and non-American third culture students (Gerner et al.,
1992). The study found that American third culture kids had a more global perspective than their
domestic American counterparts (Gerner et al., 1992). The American third culture students were
more interested in travelling internationally, more culturally accepting, and were less likely to
stereotype others than the domestic students. However, third culture students who were non-
American were found to be more global in perspective than even the American third culture
students. In a later reanalysis of the 1992 data, looking for gender differences, Gerner and Perry
(2002) found that American females who had lived abroad were more likely to be interested in
international careers than American females who had never lived abroad. This is one illustration
of how the population of third culture kids can vary from person to person, and experience to
experience. Although Gerner et al. (1992) found differences between the different types of third
culture kids, other researchers have found that the population of third culture kids deals with
transition similarly, regardless of country of origin. Pollock and Van Reken (2009) wrote one of
the popular books on the third culture experience, and in it they highlight the process of
transition that Pollock has found third culture kids experience.
This section reviews scholarship on third culture kids through the lens of Pollock’s
Transition Cycle, which will also form the framework for this study. This cycle involves five
stages (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009):
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 39
1. Involvement
2. Leaving
3. Transition
4. Entering
5. Reinvolvement
The first stage, Involvement, according to Pollock & Van Reken (2009), is almost unidentifiable
to most people, because it is everyday life: “we feel settled and comfortable, knowing where we
belong and how we fit in” (p. 66). Normally, it is only once this stage is behind the transitioner
that it seems obvious. The next stage in the cycle is that of Leaving, which usually begins with
the knowledge that a departure is going to happen. The individual who is leaving often neglects
their responsibilities in favor of planning the next phase of their journey. The allure of the new,
whether it is a location, job, or other exciting venture, takes precedence over the routine. This
process can be seen in almost any person who is experiencing transition, from the expatriate who
is returning home and is reluctant to begin new tasks in their current location, to the graduating
student, who finds that the next phase of their life is more interesting that the current. After
Leaving, the true Transition phase comes next, marked by chaos and upheaval. There are new
schedules to follow or places to visit, and almost nothing seems to fit the normal that we
remember. After transitioning, the Entering stage allows the individual to begin to settle into
their new routine, but is occasionally disrupted by remnants of the previous culture. This could
be as simple as using a different term for an item (trunk vs. boot), or it could be actions that are
performed in reaction to specific stimulants. This stage is often filled with awkward and
uncomfortable moments, and may involve a desire to return to the former location, where things
are “normal”. It is in this phase that the occurrence of culture shock is most evident. The final
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 40
stage of the Transition Cycle is Reinvolvement, where the individual finally begins to feel a part
of the group and community again. Relationships have been created and a social network is
beginning. There may still be occasional urges to return to the previous home, but for the most
part, the Reinvolvement phase soon becomes the new normal.
According to a review of the literature, only one study of third culture kids has used the
Transition Cycle (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009), as support for the study and the resulting data.
Dixon and Hayden (2008), use the cycle to interpret their findings relating to primary school age
(10-11 years old) children and transition. Students at an international primary school in Bangkok
participated in the study to help understand the transitions that they encountered while moving to
a new location. The study found that many of the participants’ experiences were reflected in the
phases of Transition, Entering, and Reinvolvement. In addition, the study found that assisting
students through the use of an orientation, as well as peer support and an institutional focus on
transition were key to facilitating a smoother transition process (Dixon & Hayden, 2008). With
this in mind, the literature that relates to the Transition Cycle will now be reviewed. While the
literature on Involvement and Leaving as phases of transition is sparse, understanding both of
these phases is important to understanding the rest of the Transition Cycle.
Involvement and Sponsorship
Sponsorship is one of the most basic ways that third culture kids are involved with their
experience (Downie, 1976; Jordan, 1981; Useem and Downie, 1976). This sponsor is the reason
that they are overseas, and for many third culture families, the sponsor is an easy way to identify
both themselves and others. There are typically five types of sponsor designations: missionary,
business, military, federal civilians, and other (Downie, 1976). The missionary designation
applies to families whose work with Western religion carries them overseas. Business families
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 41
are those who are affiliated with large corporations; the corporations can be host country, home
country or multi-nationally based. Families who are tied with the military, whether because they
are military personnel or civilians in military employ, fall into the military designation. Federal
civilians are the families of those who work for any governmental, non-military organization,
such as the Department of State. The final designation, of other sponsors, is a catch all for any
other type of employment that took a family overseas. Non-governmental organization
employees, university instructors, or those employed by international agencies make up this sub-
group.
Although they are only tangentially related to the sponsor, third culture children often
identify with the sponsor beyond the norm for the home culture. This is often because the type
of sponsor can dictate the experience that the family has, as well as the expectations for the
children of the family (Gleason, 1973; J. Useem, Donoghue & R. H. Useem, 1963). Sponsors
can control where a family lives and when a family moves. Beyond this powerful control that
sponsors have, they can also create their own culture among dependent families. In their
introduction of the third culture concept, J. Useem, Donoghue, and R. H. Useem (1963) state that
American enclaves often form overseas based on the sponsorship, and that these enclaves are
often seen as an example of what American culture is, regardless of whether it is true to the
original home American culture. Military families, for example, often live on the military base,
and American military dependents often attend a Department of Defense sponsored school, with
the result being less interaction with the host country culture. Diplomatic families may also be
segregated from the host culture, but instead of being surrounded by co-nationals, they may
instead be living in a community of diplomats from all over the world, leading to a
conglomeration of cultures. According to Gleason (1973), the family living situation, school
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 42
choice and interaction with the host country “depend largely upon the organizational status of the
parent” (p. 488).
Jordan (1981) found that upon returning to the United States for college, many third
culture kids felt that they were going from a perspective of being observed, whether by their
parents, sponsor companies, or host country nationals, to a situation where they were much more
on the outside observing the dominant culture. In this way, third culture students may be very
similar to international students, feeling as though they are observers and creating friendships
with other co-nationals instead of with host country students. In a more recent study, business
kids were found to have the most challenge with repatriation in college (Weigel, 2010), but there
is no discussion of why this was the case. With the increase in global business travel, it is likely
that many more third culture kids may have a sponsor that is business related.
The Involvement phase of a third culture kid’s life has been shown to depend on the
parent’s sponsor. Once the sponsor decides that a family is to change locations, the entire family
is moved from the Involvement phase of the cycle into the Leaving phase of the Transition Cycle.
This change can affect both work and school, disrupting the routines that a family has established
(Pollock & Van Reken, 2009).
Leaving
The Leaving phase of transition is one that all third culture kids, regardless of
sponsorship, deal with. This phase covers the period from when the family first finds out about
the move to the arrival in a new location. During this time each family member, and the family
unit as a whole, may encounter different reactions to the situation, including a period of grief.
According to the research (Gilbert, 2008; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009), third culture kids
experience grief in all areas of their lives. This grief can be for people, places, or things that the
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 43
third culture kid has been forced to leave behind, and often is left unresolved in the mind of the
child. Unresolved grief is the type of grief that occurs when a person is not allowed, or does not
feel able, to mourn what they have lost (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). In adults who have lived
a third culture kid lifestyle, this unresolved grief can impact relationships, causing the adult third
culture kid to remain distant from those around them (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). This
distance is often used as a protective barrier, and can have the most effect on all aspects of the
third culture kid’s life. There is not much scholarly research that examines this phase of the
Transition Cycle; often, the impact of the process of Leaving is overlooked and the impact of the
next phase, Transition, is analyzed.
Transition
During the Transition Cycle, the actual phase of Transition is often chaotic (Pollock &
Van Reken, 2009). This phase is often marked by emotional highs and lows (Pollock & Van
Reken, 2009), but is also different for every third culture kid and expatriate (N. Adler, 1981).
Often, this period is referred to in the literature as reverse culture, or re-entry, shock. Culture
shock is defined as the cognitive dissonance that occurs in travelers when their expectations for
situations do not match what ends up happening (Furnham, 1993). Reverse culture shock occurs
when a sojourner returns to their passport culture. In the process, their expectations and ideals
for the culture they are returning to do not always match their experience, creating another
cognitive dissonance that must be dealt with (Furnham, 1993). In order for third culture kids,
and their families, to have a smooth transition, the transition and re-entry process must be
skillfully managed (N. Adler, 1981). Without this management, there is a chance that the re-
entry process could be more traumatic than necessary. For some, this period of transition can
provide time for self-reflection and growth if well managed (P. Adler, 1975). It is this process of
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 44
transition, and the literature surrounding the topics of re-entry and mobility in third culture
students that will be analyzed next.
Re-entry and culture shock. Although third culture kids often view the re-entry process
as a foregone conclusion, they also tend to encounter issues when returning to their home
country (Gaw, 2000; Jordan, 1981; Weigel, 2010). Jordan (1981) found that third culture kids of
all ages expected to return to their home country, and for those students who had not yet returned
before college, they presumed that the entry to college would be the time they would return.
During their transition period, the students in this study often bypassed joining the support
networks available to them and worked to create their own long-distance support network of
family and friends (Jordan, 1981). There is no mention of these third culture kids having access
to a support center or program just for them, so although these students did not feel compelled to
utilize the existing networks, there is still a chance that modern third culture kids will find a third
culture kid center or program useful to assist in their transition to college.
In a similar discovery, Weigel (2010) found that students who were in their first year
transitioning to college and who were able to form a support network at the institution, whether
through faculty, staff, international students or parents, tended to have a smoother transition.
Even these students, however, found aspects of the transition challenging, and prior relationships
were disrupted by geographic and temporal distance. The same study also found that students
who identified a business sponsor as the reason they lived abroad often had the most challenges
in terms of adapting. There were no reasons given as to why third culture kids with ties to
business sponsorship had the most challenges.
A separate study (Gaw, 2000) analyzed reverse culture shock among third culture kid
students returning to their home country for college. Reverse culture shock is the experience of
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 45
returning home, and expecting both the home culture and the returnee to be unchanged, but
finding that both have changed. In the analysis, Gaw (2000) used a scale built to measure re-
entry shock and showed that students who were experiencing higher levels of reverse culture
shock were less likely to use support services, when compared with students with lower levels of
reverse shock. Students tended to use health and career counseling regardless of level of culture
shock, but the students with lower levels of reverse culture shock utilized financial aid, tutoring
and advising, while their compatriots who were experiencing higher levels did not. Thus, the
very students who are more likely to need more support for their transition, are in fact at more
risk of accessing less support for their culture shock and transition. This lack of utilization could
create issues for institutions who attempt to provide third culture students with support systems,
however, caution must be used when generalizing, as the data from this study have not yet been
replicated.
In the same study, third culture students’ scores on reentry scale were related to the
actions that students took, as opposed to the actions that they said they would take. Gaw (2000)
posits that the students’ experience while returning may have precluded high reverse culture
shock students from seeking help; these students may believe that the on-campus resources are
too inexperienced with cultural issues and culture shock to help them. College student third
culture kids may find that their experience with reverse culture or re-entry shock is not what they
expected. As Gaw found, some may choose to visit a counselor to help them work through this
area of concern. Gaw also found that students who do not visit the counseling centers believe
that mental health professionals on a college campus will not be familiar with the transitions they
are experiencing, and will be unable to help them. What is not studied in Gaw’s work is whether
a center or program devoted to third culture kids would have helped these students. This study
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 46
worked with International Students and Scholars staff as well as current third culture kids at
Lewis and Clark to understand what their experiences of transition are, and determine whether
the program was helpful in their transition.
Research on the third culture kid experience is not the only literature that addresses re-
entry shock. In fact, a majority of the research is approached from the perspective of a sponsor
organization, and has been done with the goal of assisting organizations in making the re-entry
transition smooth for their employees. Research has found that managing the re-entry process is
one of the best ways to assist people experiencing culture shock (N. Adler, 1981, Furnham,
1993). Furnham (1993) proposes that training programs with an intercultural focus can assist in
the transition of people who are experiencing culture shock. Although his work was primarily
focused on adults, the literature is still helpful to explain what the third culture kids may be
experiencing. Adler’s (1981) study found that by helping manage the re-entry process for
employees, their culture shock could be minimized. The study also explored organizational
reactions to returning employees, and found that many managers were unaware of the transition
process that their employees were going through. Managers were also found to be less likely to
promote or reward international experience, because they did not seem to understand the benefits
that it brought to an organization. Caution must be used in applying this to modern day settings,
however, as the organizational view on international experience may have changed in the past
thirty years. While the Adler (1981) study may not directly relate to third culture kids, since they
are not in the workplace, these students may encounter others who do not place high value on the
third culture student’s international experience, so some care must be taken in helping these
students successfully transition to their new location.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 47
Mobility. The challenges of mobility are also part of the Transition phase. Researchers
have found that mobility, defined as frequent moving within and between cultures, can have
lasting impacts on identity development as well as relationships (Grimshaw & Sears, 2008;
McLachlan, 2004, 2007; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). Similar to Arnett (2002) who found that
adolescents worldwide were struggling with delayed identity development, McLachlan (2004,
2007) looked at internationally mobile families and found that parents and children agreed that
the children struggled with identity development as a result of their frequent moving. Children
were often unable to identify one “home” location, instead responding with the places they had
lived, or the places their parents called home, even while children had never been to those
locations. According to Grimshaw and Sears (2008), one of the qualities that define third culture
kid students is that of movement. This mobility is found to contribute to a confused sense of
identity within the third culture kid student.
Transition to college. While third culture kid students value the experiences that they
have had, many also feel that these experiences also led to confusion and difficulty when it came
time to transition to the college level (Sellers, 2011; Thurston-Gonzalez, 2009). There has been
research conducted on transition programs, both for third culture kid students and domestic
college students (Davis et al., 2010; Vinson et al., 2010). This research shows that these
programs can make the adjustment a little easier for students. Davis and others (2010) looked
specifically at missionary children who attended a religiously affiliated re-entry program when
they were returning to the United States after completing high school in an overseas country.
The study found that these re-entry seminars offered returning students a safe space to learn
about the change process that they were encountering. The students who attended the seminars
also were found to have lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress after completing the
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 48
seminars. Providing missionary third culture students with a place where they could understand
that both their overseas and repatriation experiences were to be expected seemed to give the
students a chance to adjust to their situations better. Students at Lewis and Clark, while not
attending a re-entry seminar, may also find value in relating with other students who understand
their experience.
A different study investigated the transition to college experience of missionary kids
more than a year after they had first transitioned to college (Hervey, 2009). In this study,
students who had previously had negative transition experiences while moving cultures were
found to also have difficulty in transitioning to college. In addition, students who were
transitioning to their parents’ cultures found the adjustment most challenging, as compared with
their previous inter-cultural transitions; the level of challenge in transitioning to the parents’
culture also predicted the students’ level of adjustment to college. Students who had moved
more often were found to have a better adjustment period than students that had moved fewer
times. This study has more implications for the International Students and Services office at
Lewis and Clark, as the findings may help them be aware of which students to assist when they
begin school at the institution.
Other studies have investigated domestic students in their transition to college (Fisher &
Hood, 1987; Vinson et al., 2010). While these studies were not directly related to third culture
kids, they did study students who encountered challenges with homesickness (Fisher & Hood,
1987; Thurber & Walton, 2012), and students who were exposed to a university institutional
transition program that helped students adjust to university expectations (Vinson et al., 2010).
Fisher and Hood (1987) investigated the relationship of homesickness and the stress of college
transition in students commuting to or residing on the college campus. The study found that
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 49
regardless of living situation, the students who reported being more homesick in the middle of
the semester also self-reported being more psychologically stressed, and were found to be less
adapted to the institution. The authors raise a note of caution though, because the students had
also reported being more homesick at the beginning of the study, so there is a chance that these
students could just have been more likely to suffer from homesickness. In a more recent study of
homesickness, and how institutions of higher education can assist students who encounter it,
Thurber & Walton (2012) found that assisting students in norming their expectation of
homesickness, providing students with some control over their situation, and establishing
friendships at the new location can all work to combat homesickness.
In a separate study, Vinson and others (2010) found that small-group teaching methods
assisted students in transitioning to their new school, as well as creating relationships with staff
members at the institution, with the result being that students transitioned to their new
environment more smoothly. For third culture students, the results of the Fisher and Hood
(1987) study could indicate that pre-existing levels of homesickness may dispose a student to
higher levels of homesickness in the future, and could lead to third culture kid students being
more likely to encounter higher levels of homesickness and stress. The Vinson et al. (2010)
study could also indicate that students whose post-secondary schools do not offer small-group
teaching might encounter difficulties transitioning to their new institution, due to the lack of
opportunity to meet other students, faculty or staff.
Entering
The Entering phase is characterized by beginning to establish a sense that an individual
belongs or is comfortable in a location. There may still be challenges with adjusting to the
culture, but they are fewer now than before. For third culture kid students, this sense of
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 50
belonging is often initially characterized by identification with people, as opposed to locations
(Fail, 1996). This could be attributed to the fact that for many third culture kids, specific people
are a constant in their lives, while locations may change based on where the family lives. In a
similar study, Nette and Hayden (2007) found when talking with young (9-11 year old) third
culture children, those children often found it challenging to define where they belonged, or
where they were from. Instead, these children often resorted to defining themselves with simple
labels that they had heard from those people who were important to them (parents, siblings,
caregivers, etc.).
A sense of belonging. Based on the previously stated research, one challenge that third
culture kids encounter due to the transitory nature of their upbringing is a chance to develop a
traditional sense of belonging. Hoersting (2009) found that when students do not feel as though
they belong in a place, this lack of belonging can have long term effects on self-esteem.
According to Hoersting (2009), students with more international experience are more likely to
struggle with a feeling of lack of belonging. In the long term, this lack of belonging can impact a
students’ sense of self-esteem, with students who feel disconnected and as though they don’t
belong in a location having lower self-esteem (Hoersting, 2009). For third culture students, who
have moved internationally and struggle with determining where they belong, this could have
long-term implications. While all college students can struggle to determine where they belong,
third culture kid students seem to encounter issues with sense of belonging at earlier ages.
In another study of third culture kids and sense of belonging, Moore and Barker (2012)
interviewed third culture kids of a wider age range (18-44) and found that while many of them
still struggled with a sense of belonging, most were self-identified as being multi-cultural
(incorporating many cultures into their own identity) or as having multiple cultures that they
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 51
could switch between. This serves as a reminder that although individuals may feel at a loss as
to where they belong, they still have some sort of cultural identity. Often, the phase of Entering
is overlooked, and as a result, is not as deeply written about in the literature.
Reinvolvement
Reinvolvement can be characterized in many ways. According to previous research
(Useem & Cottrell, 1993), American third culture kids pursue and attain their bachelor’s degrees
at much higher rates than their U.S. peers. Although the data is old, and has not been recently
verified, this suggests that many third culture kids in the mid 1990s seemed to find their way to
become reinvolved in society through education.
Continuing education. In a study of third culture kids and college choice, Thurston-
Gonzalez (2009) found that the process of searching for the college where they wanted to
continue their education was impacted by the international location of high school students.
Students in the study were more aware of the fact that they could attend colleges outside their
home country, but most ended up choosing institutions that were somehow tied or close to family
and friends. Most students in the study also highly valued input from family and friends who
had experiences with the different institutions when the third culture students were picking the
college they would attend. For some students, using the information available to them from
family and friends is helpful. However, relying only on those sources of information can create a
challenging situation later on, when third culture kid students realize that their decisions were
made without a full grasp of the situations that they were entering. In a separate study of third
culture kids, Sellers (2011) interviewed third culture kid students during and after their college
experiences and found that the students reported changing academic focuses and career plans,
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 52
often because their experiences in non-American educational systems did not give them
complete understanding of what was available to them.
There are many options for elementary and secondary schooling that are available to the
third culture student. The type of school that a third culture student attends prior to college can
impact their understanding of the options provided by various post-secondary options. Pollock
and Van Reken (2009) offer a helpful primer on the schools that third culture kids may
encounter. Local schools, which are schools local to the host country, are one common option for
students who are in remote locations, without the benefit of a large expatriate community
(Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). Other options discussed by Pollock and Van Reken (2009) are
American sponsored schools, which are funded by the United States Department of State, or
specific country based international schools, which may not be associated with the government
of a country, but may adhere to the schooling standards of that specific country, such as
American, English, or French. These are just three examples of the various schools that third
culture kids and their families may encounter; each one can offer different opportunities to their
students, but can also come with challenges that could impact long term success of students. In a
study of third culture kids and college choice, Thurston-Gonzalez (2009) studied two
international schools in a Latin American country. One school had a long established college
counselor who helped students pick schools that were in line with their goals; students from the
other school were being helped by a college counselor who was new to her role, and who had
been given little training to help students determine which schools were the best fit for them.
The study was not longitudinal, so there is no data on how many students remained at their initial
choices for college, nor is there information on how many students persisted and graduated from
a college or university (Thurston-Gonzalez, 2009).
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 53
Beyond the data on college choice, there are also a few studies that seem to show that
third culture kids pursue and achieve education at higher rates than their domestic American
peers (Cottrell, 2002; Useem & Cottrell, 1993). One study (Useem & Cottrell, 1993) found that
third culture kids earned their bachelor’s degrees at four times the rate of American students.
Although the data is old, and the study has not been duplicated recently, it is interesting to note
that third culture students, who have been shown to struggle with the transition to college, are
also driven to complete their degrees at such high rates. This seems to directly conflict with the
data relating to adjustment issues, however, Useem and Cottrell (1993) point out that it also took
third culture students longer to complete their degrees.
A separate study (Cottrell, 2002) found that third culture kid students were achieving
higher education at higher rates than their American counterparts (although not at the same rate
as previous studies stated). As stated before, however, these students also took longer to attain
their degrees. This study also looked at third culture kid majors and career paths after college,
and found that third culture students were more likely to have majors that were related to
international fields than American students who had never lived abroad. This was also found to
be the case in a more recent study of adult third culture kids and their college majors and minors
by Byttner (2012). According to Cottrell (2002), adult third culture kids were also more likely to
pursue careers that involved international experiences in the work place, whether it was traveling
or living internationally, or dealing with visitors to the US.
Third culture kids in college have a variety of transition issues that they encounter and
deal with. Pollock’s Transition Cycle (Pollock and Van Reken, 2009) offers one lens to use in
understanding the stages that third culture kids encounter when they deal with transition.
Encountering the challenges of Involvement, Leaving, Transition, Entering and Reinvolvement is
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 54
something that many third culture kids do each time they move. Each third culture kid’s
Involvement while living abroad is related to the sponsor who directed the family’s move abroad;
military, missionary, business, and diplomatic children may all share similarities from growing
up abroad, but they will also have different experiences because of their different loyalties
(Downie, 1976; Jordan, 1981; Useem and Downie, 1976). During the process of Leaving, third
culture kids and their families can encounter issues with unresolved grief (Gilbert, 2008; Pollock
& Van Reken, 2009), which can impact relationships when the third culture kid is older. The
hallmark of the actual stage of Transition is one of chaos; this is encountered in reverse culture
shock, where the person returning to their home country expects both the home and themselves
to be the same as they remember it (N. Adler, 1981; Furnham, 1993; Gaw, 2000; Jordan, 1981;
Weigel, 2010).
For college students, the transition to college can often be the first time that a third
culture kid returns to live in their home culture, which can create challenges of adjusting to a
new country along with adjusting to a new location and phase of life (Sellers, 2011; Thurston-
Gonzalez, 2009). Once third culture kid students begin to enter their new society, they often
establish a sense of belonging (Hoersting, 2009) which can help them feel that they are a
welcomed member of the new social network they have established. Finally, third culture kids
have shown that one of the most enduring ways that they become reinvolved is through
continuing their education (Cottrell, 2002; Sellers, 2011; Thurston-Gonzalez, 2009; Useem &
Cottrell, 1993). The process of transitioning has no set duration, and each third culture student
will traverse the cycle at their own pace. Although there has not been much previous research on
third culture kids and their adaptation to college, there is research on programs and centers that
help other marginalized student populations adapt to college. The literature on these programs
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 55
and centers is helpful to review in order to understand the possible benefits and challenges
encountered by students who use these support options.
Student Support Centers and Programs
The literature on student support centers and programs for non-dominant populations is
limited. Previous researchers have analyzed information regarding cultural centers and
organizations that relate solely to ethnicity or sexuality. Although these are not necessarily
directly tied to third culture kids, as a marginalized population, third culture kids may share some
similarities with these groups. As a result, a review of the literature relating to student support
centers and programs is necessary and helpful to understand the context of the Third Culture Kid
program at Lewis and Clark College.
Research has found that minority student involvement with similar students can have
positive impacts on student transition (Jones, Castellanos & Cole, 2002; Museus, 2008, 2010)
and can also help foster cultural connections with other students (L. Patton, 2006a, 2006b). In
the works of Lori Patton (2006a, 2006b), the author finds that Black Cultural Centers on a
predominantly white campus offer students a place to call home, and a place where they feel
welcomed. In one study, L. Patton (2006b) met with students and staff at a Black Cultural
Center and found that the group felt that a multi-cultural center would negate the feeling of
home, and instead create a feeling of a melting pot, with each marginalized population not
valued enough by the institution to have their own space. Space was a common theme among the
cultural center research, with some of the research participants viewing the physical space
allocated to them, along with the location as a symbol of their value to the institution (Jones,
Castellanos, & Cole, 2002; L. Patton, 2006b).
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 56
A separate study also conducted at a predominantly white institution with a multi-cultural
center for all minority students found similar results (Jones, Castellanos, & Cole, 2002).
Students in this study reported that they viewed the multi-cultural center as a place to meet other
students like them, but also to learn more about their ethnic roots. Access to the multi-cultural
center was also helpful in managing the transition to college for many students, although they did
also feel that the institutional administration did not seem interested in diversity or the minority
student perspective.
In his studies on student support programs, Museus researched targeted support programs
(2010) as well as student involvement in ethnic organizations (2008). Involvement, not
necessarily in leadership roles, in ethnic student organizations was found to help African
American and Asian American students adapt to their college. The involvement was found to
foster students’ cultural familiarity, cultural expression and advocacy, and cultural validation. In
this study, cultural familiarity was defined as a place that allowed students to connect with others
like themselves. Ethnic organizations that offered students a place to express themselves and
advocate for their community were found to support students through cultural expression and
advocacy. Finally, students at the institution reported that involvement in ethnic organizations
offered them cultural validation, or a subculture of the main campus culture where they felt
accepted regardless of their background. The targeted support programs that Museus (2010)
researched were defined as services that are aimed to support marginalized student populations at
a predominantly white institution, and the programs were found to create social networks among
marginalized populations. The programs also helped integrate marginalized students into the
larger campus community, and programs usually had a social agent who could facilitate the
development of peer student connections, and help students maintain those connections once
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 57
they were established. Both of the Museus studies (2008, 2010) are important for the current
study because they researched programs that were not merely cultural centers.
In addition to researching support programs, Museus and Neville (2012) also researched
institutional agents at higher education institutions, and the characteristics that they had which
could assist minority students in gaining cultural capital. In this study, institutional agents were
defined as individuals who worked at an institution as a faculty, staff, or administration member.
Individuals who embodied the following characteristics were found to be of the most assistance
to minority students on their campus. These characteristics included having similar
backgrounds, experiences or knowledge; providing support for the entire student; interacting
with students in a caring way; and proactively helping students. For students at Lewis and Clark,
having an institutional agent, who can assist in these areas could be key to helping them gain a
voice on the campus.
A separate study investigated student support programs for international students at an
institution in Australia (Menzies & Baron, 2013). In this study, international students who
joined a student run support program believed that their social and cultural adjustment to the
school had been assisted by their participation in the student organization. This organization did
not replace institutionally affiliated programs, but stood in supplement to them. While the
program was distinct from the Lewis and Clark program, it offers an international student
perspective on student organizations in addition to institutionalized ones.
While the Third Culture Kid program at Lewis and Clark College is not a student support
center based on the student ethnicity, it is still an institutionally sanctioned and supported
program for a specific student population. The activities that are designed by the program
leadership may offer third culture kid students an opportunity to feel that they belong, both in the
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 58
program and at the institution, similarly to how minority students with access to student
organizations and culture centers felt welcomed to the campus.
Conclusion
Transitioning to college can be a challenging time for many students, and many schools
offer support centers or programs to assist students in their transition period. While third culture
kid students and international students are not exactly the same, both populations have
international experience that may affect how they approach their post-secondary education. For
this reason, information about the international student population was included in the previous
review of literature. The literature reveals that international students encounter challenges in the
four areas of institution, student life, personal attitudes, and home (Gu et al., 2010). The
literature on third culture kid students can be viewed through the lens of the Transition Cycle
(Pollock & Van Reken, 2009): Involvement, Leaving, Transition, Entering, and Reinvolvement.
However, the existing literature is somewhat outdated, with most research having been done in
the second half of the 21
st
century. These studies do not take into account modern methods of
communication, or modern college support programs for marginalized populations. Support
programs can offer minority and marginalized students a way to gain entry into their new culture,
and ease the transition process. The case study of Lewis and Clark College’s Third Culture Kid
support program, and how it assists in student transitions is one way of bringing third culture kid
research into the modern era. This case study focused on the program at Lewis and Clark, and
determined what services the program provides to third culture students attending the institution.
The goal of this study is to provide information for institutions and student affairs professionals
who may be interested in creating a similar support system for third culture kids at their
institution.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 59
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Increasing internationalization in all areas of the global economy has led to a rise in the
mobility of families, including children. As shown in chapter two, when families cross cultural
boundaries and live in cultures other than their own, children may be affected by the transition.
These children are often termed third culture kids because of their creation of a third culture by
mixing the culture of their parents with the culture they are living in (R. H. Useem & Downie,
1976). This study investigated one higher educational institution’s response to provide support
for third culture kids.
As discussed in chapter two, third culture kids and international students share some
similarities, although they are two unique populations. Both groups of students deal with the
transition of needing to find a new social support network while being somewhat unfamiliar with
the culture that they are living in. Social support networks and student support centers have been
found to assist in the transition of college students to their new school (Jones, Castellanos &
Cole, 2002; Museus, 2008, 2010). Until now, most of this research has been focused on centers
that are related to the ethnicity or sexual identity of students. Lewis and Clark College aims to
actively work to provide a social support system for third culture students. This study looked at
the third culture kid social support system at an institution of higher education.
To fully explore the social support system that Lewis and Clark College offers the third
culture kid students at the institution, this study used qualitative methodology. Qualitative
research is directed at achieving an understanding of the participant’s lived experiences and an
understanding of the topic being studied (Merriam, 2009). Qualitative research was an
appropriate tool to use in this study, because the goal of the study was to understand how the
Third Culture Kid program at Lewis and Clark College operates and is maintained, as well as to
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 60
understand the student perspective on the program. The case study format was utilized not only
because it enables the in-depth study of a clearly defined case, but also because the format allows
for a deep analysis of how the study site operates. The Lewis and Clark College support
program for third culture kids is one of only a few institutional support systems available for this
type of student. Since one of the purposes of this study is to help other institutions and student
affairs professionals determine if a program such as the one that exists at Lewis and Clark would
fit well on their campus, a case study of an operating support system was appropriate.
This chapter reviews the research questions that guided this study, then the case study
research design format, and then the application to this study. A discussion of the population and
sample for this study, along with the instrumentation used and procedures for data collection and
analysis follows. A brief review of the theoretical framework which was utilized in data analysis
will be presented; this framework has been previously introduced in the preceding chapter.
Finally, issues of reliability and validity will be addressed.
Research Questions
The research questions that guided this study have been previously introduced, but are
also included here:
1. What are the objectives of the International Students and Scholars office with regard to
third culture students?
2. What factors led Lewis and Clark to create the Third Culture Kid organization?
a. What were the objectives of the program when it was founded?
b. What are the current objectives of the program, if different from when it was
founded?
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 61
3. What are the services that the Third Culture Kid organization provides, and how are they
aimed at benefiting third culture kid students?
a. Do the students believe that they benefit from the support of the office? If so,
how do they believe they benefit?
Research Design
This study was a single case study of the Third Culture Kid program at Lewis and Clark
College. The intent of this study was to investigate a population of third culture kids, and
whether a support program at an institution assisted their transition to the college, using the
previously stated research questions. This study took the form of a qualitative case study in
order to capture the opinions on the program, it’s existence and support of the third culture kid
students and the International Students and Scholars staff who help them at Lewis and Clark.
According to Merriam (2009), a case study “is an in-depth description and analysis of a
bounded system” (p. 40); by this definition, the structure that will be studied must have a clear
delineation around itself. A key feature of case studies is that a case study focuses only on one
system, and looks to discover information only about that system (Merriam, 2009). By focusing
only on the structure to be analyzed, the researcher is able to concentrate on the system itself,
and create a rich description of both the system and the parts that it is comprised of (M. Q.
Patton, 2002). Merriam (2009) states that the researcher must first identify the areas they are
planning to study, and then determine a case that best matches with those particular areas.
The research questions that drove this study were focused on the third culture kid
program at Lewis and Clark, which provides a bounded case to study. This study is only
concerned with discovering the views of those involved with the third culture kid program at
Lewis and Clark. Because previous studies have only addressed areas that helped third culture
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 62
kids transition (Weigel, 2010), and have not investigated a single case study site, this study and
the research questions are focused on one school – Lewis and Clark College – that has a program
specifically for third culture kids..
To structure this case study, the researcher identified institutionally based student support
for third culture kid students as the area for the study, and then reviewed the higher education
institutions that mentioned support systems for third culture kids on their websites. After careful
review, it was determined that there were two institutions that focused on a social support
system. One of these institutions is religiously affiliated, and thus there was a belief that the
third culture kids attending that school might not come from a broad range of sponsors. As a
result, the Lewis and Clark College site was chosen. In addition, Lewis and Clark College has
been mentioned or studied in several recent studies on third culture kids (Thurston-Gonzalez,
2009; Weigel, 2010), and it was believed that the institution would be open to research being
conducted there. The recent studies at Lewis and Clark focused on how American third culture
kids chose colleges and experienced re-entry (Thurston-Gonzalez, 2009), and also compared first
semester transitions for third culture kids at three schools, including Lewis and Clark (Weigel,
2010).
One of the benefits of qualitative research, according to M. Q. Patton (2002), is that
qualitative methods allow for deep, discovery oriented research. Researchers using qualitative
methods are able to investigate a narrow topic and gather data that will lead to a deeper
understanding of that topic. A side effect of this deep, contextually based research is that it is
only focused on a small group (M. Q. Patton, 2002). For this reason, it is important to use
purposeful sampling, where the case and the participants being studied are selected because of
the level of insight they can provide into the questions driving the research (M. Q. Patton, 2002).
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 63
Population and Sample
The main units of analysis for this study were third culture students at Lewis and Clark
and the staff members of the International Students and Scholars office, who help to maintain the
Third Culture Kid program at Lewis and Clark. According to Lewis and Clark, there are
approximately 130 students who identify as third culture kids at the school each year (Lewis and
Clark, n.d.e). While this number represents the student population of the case study, due to size
and time limitations, a sample of the student population was chosen, resulting in a sample of
nineteen students. Seven of the student participants were members of the Third Culture Kid
group advisory board, and the other twelve students were not members of the board, but students
who were part of the third culture kid support group. The board members of the Third Culture
Kid group help provide the group with direction, and the group of board members is usually
made up of two students from each class standing at the university. The board is lead by the
student intern, who works in the International Students and Scholars office. Information
regarding the picking of the student intern and the advisory board is detailed in chapter four.
Participants for this study were recruited using what Patton (2002) defines as an
opportunistic sample. Board members were recruited to the study during their weekly board
meeting, which the researcher was able to attend. Non board member participants were recruited
to the study through an email, sent by the student intern to the third culture kid students at Lewis
and Clark. A copy of the email sent by the intern is available in Appendix A. In addition, the
researcher asked board members if they would recommend any students to participate in the
study.
The opportunistic sampling strategy was chosen because the researcher did not have
much detail regarding the population of third culture students at Lewis and Clark prior to
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 64
conducting the study. While an overall number of third culture kids on the campus was known,
it was not known how many students might fit into the different categories of third culture kids,
and opportunistic sampling allowed for the researcher to make determinations while in the field
about who should be approached for participation in the study. The nineteen third culture kid
students who participated in this study covered both students who were involved with the
advisory board, along with students who were not on the board. Because of the use of
opportunistic sampling, the researcher was able to recruit student participants who were friends
of the advisory board members, and who may not have initially answered the research email,
enabling a broader perspective of the program to develop.
One of the sub-questions for this study pertained to the staff of the Lewis and Clark
International Student Services office, and for this reason, the staff who were on campus at the
time of the researcher’s visit were interviewed. This included Brian White, currently the director
of the office, and Greg Caldwell, who was the director of the office until 2011. The office’s
other staff members, the assistant director and administrative assistant, were not available at the
time of the researcher’s visit, and during data collection, it was revealed that neither played an
active role with the third culture kid group, so no follow up interviews were conducted with
them.
All information collected through the course of this study followed the protocols laid
forth by the Institutional Review Boards of the University of Southern California and Lewis and
Clark College. Copies of the institutional approvals and consent forms are provided in
Appendices B, C, and D following this study. Data that was collected for this study was kept
confidential on the researcher’s external hard drive, in a password protected file. Pseudonyms
were used when presenting quotes and descriptions from student participants.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 65
Instrumentation
One of the hallmarks of qualitative research is that the researcher is the tool for data
collection and analysis. In the case of this study, the collected data was in the form of
documents, observations, and interviews done in a semi-structured approach (Merriam, 2009),
which is also known as an interview guided approach (M. Q. Patton, 2002). The guided
approach involves using only a guide of interview questions and topics; questions are not strictly
ordered or worded prior to the interview. Using this format allows the researcher to have some
questions drawn up prior to the meeting, but also allows the researcher to probe for clarification,
as well as follow themes that may come up while doing research. In many ways, this structure
meshes well with the opportunistic sampling that the researcher performed in order to find
student participants.
Interview data were gathered by the researcher in September 2012, at the Lewis and
Clark College campus in Portland, Oregon. Interviews were conducted in person and ranged
anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes, with the average interview being 30 minutes. Interviews
followed a semi-structured guide (Appendices E, F, and G), where both the questions and topics
addressed in the interviews had been approved by the Institutional Research Boards of both
University of Southern California and Lewis and Clark College. The questions for all protocols
were written with the Pollock and Van Reken (2009) Transition Cycle stages as a guide, with the
intention of using this cycle as the theoretical framework for the study.
In addition to the interviews with staff and students, the researcher used observation and
document analysis to gather information about the third culture kid group at Lewis and Clark.
The website for the third culture group, including promotional material sent to students who are
applying, was reviewed. In addition, informal observations of the campus and students
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 66
interacting with each other were taken and utilized. The researcher also observed a meeting of
the third culture kid advisory board. There were no group third culture kid activities scheduled
for the week that the researcher was on the campus.
Data Collection and Analysis
As previously mentioned, qualitative data collection for this study took place over one
week in September 2012, and featured in-person interviews with staff and students, observations
of the Third Culture Kid advisory board meeting, along with reviews of internal and external
documents, including the Lewis and Clark Common Application supplemental form, and a
brochure sent to third culture kids during the application process. These multiple forms of data
collection provided a way for data to be triangulated from different points, enabling a holistic
perspective of the program to develop. In-person interviews were conducted with students, staff
and former staff because this allowed the researcher to make the best use of opportunistic
sampling. The in-person interviews allowed for previously unknown topics to be discovered and
investigated further during the course of the site visit. Interviews were conducted in either
private offices or private meeting spaces on the campus to ensure participant privacy. Table 2 is
a list of the participants who were interviewed, and their association to the Third Culture Kid
Program.
Document analysis reviewed the materials that are produced for third culture kids at
Lewis and Clark. This included brochures sent to prospective third culture kids, copies of the
supplemental application to Lewis and Clark, and other materials that were available on the
Lewis and Clark College website. In addition, observations of student interactions were
conducted in the campus eating area during the time that the researcher was on campus. The
researcher also attended the weekly board meeting that took place during the site visit.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 67
Table 2
Study Participants
Note: all student participants were assigned pseudonyms for use in this table, as well as in the
presentation of findings in chapter four.
Participant Association Class Standing
Greg Caldwell Former Director of International Students
and Scholars

Brian White Current Director of International Students
and Scholars

Emma Taylor Advisory Board Member Senior
Jacob Harris Advisory Board Member Senior
Chloe Brown Advisory Board Member Senior
Ava Thomas Advisory Board Member Junior
Emily Jackson Advisory Board Member Junior
Madison Thompson Advisory Board Member Junior
Mia Robinson Advisory Board Member Junior
Elizabeth Martin Student Member Senior
Ella Lewis Student Member Senior
Addison Walker Student Member Senior
Abigail White Student Member Senior
Isabella Moore Student Member Junior
William Hall Student Member Sophomore
Sophia Wilson Student Member Sophomore
Olivia Anderson Student Member Sophomore
Jayden Young Student Member Freshman
Natalie King Student Member Freshman
Lily Wright Student Member Freshman
Mason Davis Student Member Freshman

Framework
The framework that was used as a lens to understand the data collected at Lewis and
Clark was the Pollock and Van Reken (2009) Transition Cycle. This cycle is proposed as being
helpful to understanding the transitions that third culture kids experience while they move to
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 68
different cultures. This cycle was also used to structure the review of third culture kid literature
in chapter two, but a brief review of the cycle is provided here. The Transition Cycle is
composed of five stages, Involvement, Leaving, Transition, Entering, and Reinvolvement
(Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). The phases are sequential, but there is no specified duration that
each one endures. The Involvement phase can be defined as the status quo of life before a move.
In this phase, individuals are involved in their daily lives as normal, and feel as though they
belong in the world surrounding them. Leaving is the next phase, and it begins as soon as an
individual knows that a separation from their current location will be happening. Leaving often
involves a separation from the current world and a fascination with the new phase that the
individual will soon begin. Following the Leaving phase, comes Transition, which is a period
marked by chaos. This Transition phase straddles both the final departure from an old location
the arrival in a new location. In this phase, nothing is settled, and change is the order of the day;
often the individual feels that their world will never be routine again. The penultimate phase is
Entering, where individuals begin to settle in to the new culture or routine. This process can still
be confusing, as individuals may still be reacting to the new culture, and may be unaware of new
social cues or language usage. Individuals may still feel that they are not yet immersed in the
new culture. The final stage is one of Reinvolvement, where the individual begins to feel more
comfortable in their surroundings. The language and culture are no longer unfamiliar, and social
networks are being formed with those around them.
The protocol questions for the third culture kid students (available in Appendix E) are the
only ones that involve all five stages in the Transition Cycle. The research questions and the
protocol questions for the former director and the current staff all relate more to the last three
stages of the Transition Cycle. Because third culture kid students at Lewis and Clark have
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 69
already encountered the Involvement and Leaving phases, the overlap between the Transition
Cycle and the questions is to be expected. While other themes emerged from conducting the
interviews, document review and observations, the Transition Cycle provided a good starting
point for beginning data analysis. Since transition has been a constant in the lives of many third
culture kids, it is likely that many of them will have encountered the five stages of transition.
The students may not be able to articulate it using the same terms that are used in the Pollock
Transition Cycle, but the experiences will likely be similar.
Validity and Reliability
The potential for issues with reliability and validity exist in any research study. Merriam
(2009) states that concerns regarding reliability and validity can be partially addressed by
directing attention to the structure of the study. Additionally, attention must be paid to the
process of data collection through to presentation. Qualitative studies are designed with multiple
information sources to help lessen the likelihood of threats to validity and reliability. There are
other strategies that helped ensure the validity and reliability of the current study. Letting the
participant’s voice and experience guide the researcher is key to maintaining both validity and
reliability. The use of triangulation when performing a qualitative study is also key to
maintaining validity and reliability. Observations and document analysis helped form additional
data points to use for analysis.
Additionally, member checks of the analysis were done at several stages of the study.
According to Cho and Trent (2006), member checks should be performed at all stages of data
collection. This includes talking with the participants about the themes that have emerged during
their interview, and capturing the participant’s reactions and opinions on the themes. This action
is key in qualitative studies because the voice of the participant is what the researcher is
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 70
pursuing. This type of member checking allows for the participant to review what has been said,
correct any misunderstandings, but also for the researcher to note any disagreements that the
participant has with the interpretation. This does not mean that the interpretations should be
discarded, but that they should be carefully investigated.
Conclusion
This study is a qualitative case study of the Third Culture Organization at Lewis and
Clark College. Participants in the study included current staff, students, and the former director
of the International Student Services office, which is where the third culture student organization
is located. Sampling for the student population was opportunistic, and questions for all the
participants were based on a semi-structured protocol. This allowed the researcher to follow the
data and themes as they emerge. Data collection was done in late September, after school had
been in session for three weeks. This gave students a chance to become accustomed to the
campus, but was before the onset of midterms. The Pollock and Van Reken (2009) Transition
framework provided a structure with which to interpret the data.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 71
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
This chapter presents the results of the qualitative case study of a Third Culture Kid
support program carried out at Lewis and Clark College. The goals of this study were to
discover how the program was created, how it currently operates, and how students interact with
the program, including whether they benefit from participating in this program. The data
presented in this chapter resulted from interviews conducted with students and program staff, as
well as document review and observations. Data were analyzed using the Transition Cycle
framework from Pollock and Van Reken (2009): Involvement, Leaving, Transition, Entering, and
Reinvolvement, which was detailed in chapter two, and is reviewed later in this chapter.
This chapter begins with a review of the research questions that guided this study.
Following this review is an in depth presentation of the institutional characteristics of Lewis and
Clark College, as well as a presentation of the characteristics of the students who participated in
this study. The data are then presented by addressing each research question and sub-question
individually. Overall findings are then discussed at the conclusion of the chapter. Pseudonyms
were assigned to all student participants for this study. These pseudonyms are used in the
presentation of data.
The research questions that guided this study are:
1. What are the objectives of the International Students and Scholars office with regard to
third culture students?
2. What factors led Lewis and Clark to create the Third Culture Kid organization?
a. What were the objectives of the program when it was founded?
b. What are the current objectives of the program, if different from when it was
founded?
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 72
3. What are the services that the Third Culture Kid organization provides, and how are they
aimed at benefiting third culture kid students?
a. Do the students believe that they benefit from the support of the office? If so,
how do they believe they benefit?
In brief, the first question’s findings reveal the relationship between the International Students
and Scholars office and the third culture students on the campus. The findings for second
question, and the sub-questions that are associated with it, address the purpose of the office in
relation to the Third Culture Kid program on the campus. The third question and the findings
that relate to it provide information about the group from the perspective of third culture students
at Lewis and Clark.
Overview of the Institution
Lewis and Clark College is a liberal arts school, located in Portland, Oregon. There are
several qualities of the school that the researcher noticed which could impact the current study;
these include the presence of non-degree seeking international students who are learning English,
the internationally friendly environment that the school cultivates through study abroad
experience, and the small school size.
The school has several campuses, with each focusing on a different area of study (Lewis &
Clark College, n.d.a.). The focus of this study was the undergraduate campus, where the College
of Arts and Sciences is located. In addition, this campus also houses the Academic English
Studies students, who attend Lewis and Clark to learn English. These students are able to enroll
in classes to improve their English, may participate in campus activities, and are given the
opportunity to live in undergraduate student housing. At the same time, they are considered
distinct, and are supported by a separate office for the Academic English Studies program, not
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 73
the International Students and Scholars office. There is a chance that the presence of these
students on campus, and in classes at Lewis and Clark, could make integration for all
international students challenging, because as the director of the International Students and
Scholars office observed, “you see a lot of times a group of Chinese students, or Japanese
students, they just want a break from speaking in English all the time” (B. White, personal
communication, September 24, 2012), so they group together and speak their native language.
During the site visit, the researcher spent time in one of the main campus eating areas, and
noticed that there were several groups of predominantly international students speaking in a non-
English language, verifying that what the office director described does occur. As discussed in
chapter two, literature on international students has shown that those who surround themselves
with co-cultural students (from their own or similar cultures) often struggle with acculturation
issues. For this reason, the prevalence of international students and English learning students
could play a role in the campus environment for the third culture kids at the institution.
In addition to the campus having many international students, the school itself also has a
significant focus on internationalization. According to their website, Lewis and Clark has
conducted study abroad programs since 1962, and at least sixty percent of students study abroad
while at Lewis and Clark (n.d.d). The participation of so many students contribute to making the
campus one that welcomes international perspective, which could help the transition of both
international and third culture students.
In addition to the presence of the English learning students and the prevalence of
international experiences on the campus, the size of the Lewis & Clark undergraduate campus
could play a role in any study based there. The school has approximately 2,000 undergraduate
students, not including the non-degree seeking English language learning students. This campus
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 74
size creates an environment where many people on the campus know each other. As the director
of the International Students and Scholars office said, “this is a small place, so it’s a rare day
when I’m not in the registrar’s office, or the financial aid office, or the cashier, working on
individual situations” (B. White, personal communication, September 24, 2012) and stepping in
to help students in pursuit of their education. In addition, the former director of the International
Students and Scholars office, when talking about how the Third Culture Kid program was
originally received on the campus, said he was very active “feeding information to people like
the admissions office, Jane in the provost office, the president, the people like that, everybody”
(G. Caldwell, personal communication, September 24, 2012), which indicates that he had access
to those offices and could play a role in developing policy, as someone at a larger school may not
have been able to. Through their actions, both the current and former director are acting as
institutional agents; according to Museus and Neville (2012), the actions of institutional agents
can offer minority students on a campus a way to access cultural capital, which can help with
adjustment to the campus.
The presence of international students, along with international involvement, and a small
campus size all combine to create an environment that is welcoming to third culture students.
Next, detailed information about the students who participated in this study will be presented,
before presenting data answering the research questions.
Overview of the Students
This study involved 19 current students at Lewis and Clark College who identify
themselves as Third Culture Kids. These students have lived in 39 countries, including the
United States. Asian countries represented a majority of the overseas locations, with European
and Middle Eastern countries coming next. A small number of students who participated in the
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 75
study lived in Central and South American countries. Most students lived in multiple countries
during their childhood, with only four students having lived in one country other than the United
States, whereas five students lived in two countries, three students lived in three countries, three
students lived in four countries, and four students lived in five countries other than the United
States.
The shortest period of time that a student had lived outside their home culture was 5
years, and there were six students who had spent at least 18 years outside their home culture.
The median length of time outside their home culture was 13.5 years.
Nine of the students lived abroad due to their parents’ employment. Some had parents
who worked for multi-national corporation, but for others, parents moved to take over a family
business. Two students lived abroad due to an association with United States governmental
organizations, such as USAID. The other eight students were classified as having other
sponsors; some of these families moved to pursue better schooling opportunities for their
children, others moved because the country the family was living in was unsafe; leaving Iraq
after the first Gulf War, for example. In the literature on third culture kids, Downie (1976)
identifies five types of sponsors that may cause the move abroad. For this study, only three of
those sponsor relationships were identified: business, federal civilians, and other. Third culture
kids who were sponsored by the other two relationships, military or missionary organizations,
did not participate in this study. It is unknown whether this was because there are no such
sponsored students at Lewis and Clark College, or whether those students simply did not chose
to participate in the study.
Question 1: What are the objectives of the International Students and Scholars office with
regard to third culture students?
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 76
The primary goal of the International Students and Scholars (ISS) office is to serve as a
resource and campus contact point for all international students, including those who identify as
Third Culture Kids. The interactions that the office has with students can be linked to the
Transition Cycle framework that was used as the basis of analysis for this study, thus this
research question will be answered by moving through the phases of the Transition Cycle. A
brief review of the cycle is established below along with information about how the phases of the
cycle are applied at the institution, before moving into the presentation of the findings.
The office first establishes connections with students while they are in the phase known
as Leaving. In this phase, third culture kids are aware that a departure and change will be
happening, and are beginning to plan for this step. The International Students and Scholars
office at Lewis and Clark is involved in this phase by disseminating information to prospective
international and third culture students, meeting them at college fairs, and accepting applications
from students. Next comes the Transition phase of the cycle, which features chaos and upheaval
in the lives of third culture kids. This stage of the cycle is less clearly delineated than others in
the real-life experiences of students. For the purposes of this study, the Transition phase begins
when students submit their applications to colleges, and ends when third culture students begin
classes at Lewis and Clark for the first time. One hallmark of the Entering phase, which comes
next in the cycle, is that students begin to settle in to a routine, although they also find their
situations somewhat disrupted by remnants of their previous cultures. For third culture kid
students at Lewis and Clark, this phase is signified by the beginning of classes on campus, and
begin to solidify the connections they have made with other students. The final phase of the
Transition Cycle is that of Reinvolvement, and occurs when individuals become more
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 77
comfortable and involved in the society around them. For third culture kids at Lewis and Clark,
this is signified by involvement in campus activities, and finding a niche in the campus society.
The Leaving Phase
This phase begins with the first contact students have with Lewis and Clark. According
to Brian White, the current director of the International Students and Scholars office, he and his
staff are “charged with recruiting and admitting TCKs, so our initial interactions happen around
that very often” (B. White, personal communication, September 24, 2012). The staff members
meet students during their recruitment trips abroad; during these trips they will go to both local
schools to recruit international students to Lewis and Clark, as well as going to international
schools to recruit their students to the campus. One of the hallmarks of the Leaving phase is that
it occurs while an individual is preparing to leave a location, as with these visits to high schools
by the Lewis and Clark representatives. At these visits, the representatives also present
information about Lewis and Clark and begin to establish connections with the students. This is
one way that students are identified as third culture students; additionally, as will be discussed
later, third culture students are identified through a question on the application for admission to
Lewis and Clark College.
Student interaction in the Leaving phase is not limited to recruitment trips done by the
Lewis and Clark staff. According to Mr. White, “we try to be the campus contact when a TCK
(third culture kid) family comes for a tour…we will set up a separate information session for
them, rather than funneling them through the crowd, because they have different questions” (B.
White, personal communication, September 24, 2012) they want addressed. By offering the
third culture families an opportunity to have their specific issues and questions addressed,
questions that may not be shared by domestic students, the International Students and Scholars
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 78
office is exhibiting one way to respond to individuals in the phase of Leaving. This action allows
the office to establish connections with students and their families and is one example of the
assistance that students will encounter once they enroll at the school. In conversations with the
researcher, Mr. White did not indicate if this treatment was only offered to prospective third
culture students, or if it was also offered to international students who were considering
attending Lewis and Clark.
Contact with third culture students in the Leaving phase continues through the application
process, when the International Students and Scholars office reviews the applications of students
who are international, along with the applications of those who denote a third culture affiliation
on their application. Lewis and Clark uses the Common Application for all incoming students.
The Common Application is an admission application that students can use to apply to over 480
colleges and universities (Common Application, n.d.). It allows students to submit multiple
applications easily, and is also customizable for each institution through the use of a
supplemental application. Lewis and Clark requires that all applicants complete such a
supplemental application, and the first question on this form is used to help classify those
students who may identify as third culture kids. Students are asked if they have ever lived “in
another country for more than one year due to a parent’s work” (Lewis & Clark College
Supplemental Application, n.d.). If a student answers yes to this question, according to Mr.
White, they are automatically tagged in the Lewis and Clark student database as being a third
culture student and his office is given access to their information. This allows the International
Students and Scholars office a chance to customize the message that prospective international
and third culture students will receive, and gives students in the Leaving phase, who may be
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 79
beginning their disassociation with their current location, a chance to gather more information
about a location that is unknown to them, and which could be the next place they move to.
The use of this database in relation to third culture students is unique to Lewis and Clark,
according to Greg Caldwell, who was the director of the International Students and Scholars
office while the Third Culture Kid program was established. Since retiring from Lewis and
Clark, he has maintained an unofficial emeritus position with the school and the office, and is
currently working on an analysis of college support programs for third culture kid students.
According to Mr. Caldwell, “15 years ago or so, we started coding them and nobody I have
talked to codes them” (G. Caldwell, personal communication, September 24, 2012). This coding
was found to be a major factor in the success of the third culture kid program at Lewis and Clark;
because students were easily identified due to the coding, it was easier for the staff to follow up
with them and ensure their success at the institution.
According to Pollock and Van Reken (2009), individuals in the Leaving phase often
spend a majority of their time thinking about or planning for the new location or role that they
will be taking on when they move. Contact from the International Students and Scholars office
at Lewis and Clark provides third culture kid students who are interested in attending the school
with a way to make their plans even more detailed and fully formed. While part of this may be
intended to encourage students to come to their campus, it also gives third culture kid students
information about what life at Lewis and Clark could be like. Another hallmark of the Leaving
phase, according to the literature, is a feeling of grief, which can remain unresolved for many
third culture students (Gilbert, 2008; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). Often this occurs because
third culture students are not given a chance to say goodbye to their homes and friends,
particularly if the students are leaving at the end of a school year, with not much prior notice.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 80
Although Lewis and Clark does not facilitate this process of saying goodbye specifically, for
third culture kids who are leaving their homes to go to college, the contacts that they form with
staff members at the school may help them form a support network to deal with the challenges
they face through saying goodbye to their friends and family.
The Transition Phase
As previously mentioned, the Transition phase, as outlined by Pollock and Van Reken
(2009) does not have the same clarity for starting and ending points as the other phases of the
cycle. This is due in large part to the nature of transition as defined by Pollock and Van Reken;
it is noted as “a stage marked by one word – chaos” (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009, p. 69). Since
this could be used to describe much of the college application process, for the purposes of this
study, the Transition phase is believed to begin when students submit their applications to Lewis
and Clark, and end when they first begin classes. This includes the period of time while students
are waiting for their admissions decisions, committing to a college, and attending the New
Student Orientation on campus at Lewis and Clark.. According to Brian White, the International
Students and Scholars office still maintains connections with the students who have been
designated as third culture kids during this period of time. He states that the office
communicates with students “throughout the admissions cycle, the application cycle, we have a
series of letters that we send, that often provoke correspondence” (B. White, personal
communication, September 24, 2012). This outreach informs the students of the opportunities at
Lewis and Clark, as well as gives them a sense of the third culture presence on campus.
Included in this phase is a brochure (available in Appendix H) that students receive,
which details the third culture experience at Lewis and Clark. The brochure’s cover has
welcome phrases in different languages, and on the back of the cover are some brief phrases
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 81
about what defines a third culture kid: “…you have friends from 29 different countries, you flew
before you could walk, ‘and then we went to…’ is a repeated phrase in your life story, you
realize that it really is a small world after all” (Lewis & Clark TCK Brochure, n.d.). These
phrases are not a true definition of third culture students; however, they offer the students who
receive the brochure a chance to identify themselves. In addition, this brochure makes it clear
that students who relate to these concepts will be welcomed at the Lewis and Clark campus.
Inside the brochure there is a brief history of the third culture kids group at Lewis and Clark,
describing the formation in 1992, and informing the reader that “the group promotes diversity on
campus and supports TCKs through career workshops, special activities and social events”
(Lewis & Clark TCK Brochure, n.d.). The brochure also promotes the international atmosphere
that Lewis and Clark has, including that the “student body represents more than 40
countries…offer over 20 overseas studies programs, a multicultural residence hall with an
international theme floor, and an annual International Fair” (Lewis & Clark TCK Brochure, n.d.).
Deeper inside the brochure, there are brief biographies of six third culture students who are at
Lewis and Clark, along with a list of programs, resources, and organizations at Lewis and Clark
that students could be involved with. Finally, the brochure also includes information on how to
connect with the program online, as well as how to contact the third culture student intern and
the director of the International Students and Scholars office.
For the third culture kid students at Lewis and Clark, the Transition phase culminates
with their attendance at the International Student Orientation, which all third culture and
international students are invited to. The orientation is run by the International Students and
Scholars office, and features returning students acting as advisers for the incoming students. All
international and third culture kid students are invited to participate in this orientation, which
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 82
begins two days prior to the New Student Orientation that all students are invited to attend prior
to the beginning of the fall semester.
As a part of the International Student Orientation, the third culture students move in to
their residence hall rooms early, and are given a chance to interact with staff from the ISS office.
“It’s mostly just getting them moved in, giving them a tour of campus, we try to give them a
short logistical tour of this building we’re in, cause it’s organized like an aircraft carrier, and it’s
really hard to find things the first few times” according to Mr. White (personal communication,
September 24, 2012). The third culture kid students are not purposely assigned rooms in the
same residence hall, but are assigned rooms over the entire campus. According to Mr. White,
this early move-in gives the international and third culture students an opportunity to become
familiar with each other as well as with the campus.
While the arrival day of the orientation is meant to give students a chance to settle in and
establish some roots, the second day is meant to facilitate their entry into American society, with
the morning featuring introductions of key staff on campus, and then, according to Mr. White,
“three different information sessions, they’re just quick and dirty, each one lasts about 20
minutes” (personal communication, September 24, 2012) going over safety on campus and in
Portland, campus involvement, and the online Lewis and Clark student system. Following the
information sessions, students have lunch with the resident advisers for their residence halls, and
then the international students are separated and given an English proficiency test. During this
period, the third culture students who are fluent in English are invited to join in a discussion
group with the other incoming third culture students, the orientation student leaders who are third
culture kids, and the Student Intern who runs the Third Culture Group to talk about the transition
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 83
to Lewis and Clark. All of these activities are meant to facilitate the entry process of new
students onto the campus of Lewis and Clark, but also into American society.
In addition to the third culture group meeting, the international student orientation also
features time for students to learn about academic expectations at Lewis and Clark. One of the
last sessions that all international and third culture students are invited to participate in is a
faculty and student panel, which is made up of two or three professors and the same number of
returning students, according to Mr. White. During the hour and a half, the panel discusses
things that incoming students should know. Through the entire orientation, international and
third culture students are also interacting with returning student leaders, who are a mix of
international and American students. According to Mr. White, his office strives to find a balance
of international, third culture, and domestic students to volunteer for the international orientation.
He noted that, “one of the things that we were criticized for via survey and verbal feedback
several years ago, was that we only had international people working on this” (B. White,
personal communication, September 24, 2012). The international students and third culture
students who attended the orientation session expressed their interest in having more domestic
students involved in the orientation. As a result, his office has “tried to recruit Americans who
don’t have an international background to volunteer, with the other ones” (B. White, personal
communication, September 24, 2012). This drive to include host country representatives relates
to an issue is found in the existing literature, where international students with host country
friends were found to be more adapted and integrated into their new culture (Hendrickson et al,
2011; Poyrazli et al, 2004).
Third culture students at Lewis and Clark seem to appreciate their inclusion in the
International Student Orientation. Of the 19 students who participated in this study, seven
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 84
attended the program, with three additional students mentioning that they were interested, but
had been unable to attend. Students who were unable to attend included Natalie, who instead
chose to go on one of the school’s alternative student orientations because she “had talked to
people and they said that was a better way to integrate yourself and I enjoy hiking and stuff” (N.
King, personal communication, September 25, 2012).
The students who did attend the international orientation agreed with Sophia, who said
the orientation “was really nice, because it just helped me get to know other TCKs so we kind of
knew who we were. And then there was a meeting specifically for TCKs, where we could talk
about who we were” (S. Wilson, personal communication, September 25, 2012). In addition,
many of the students who returned to Lewis and Clark as sophomores or juniors reported
volunteering for these events in the years following their first attendance at the program, and
being part of the panel discussion for new students “about academics, and transitioning to
college, and then practical issues and things like that. I was part of five students who put on that
event” (M. Robinson, personal communication, September 26, 2012). The orientation is a way
for not only first year students to gather more information about the program and their new
classmates. In addition, for the returning students, it serves as a way to remain involved with the
program, and help introduce the new students to the campus. These types of connections are
emphasized as assisting international student adaptation to a new campus according to Abe et al.
(1998).
The orientation that all international students attend is followed immediately by an
orientation for all new Lewis and Clark students. Following this period, when students are
beginning to make connections with other people on campus comes the Entering phase.

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 85
The Entering Phase
During the Entering phase, individuals are beginning to become more comfortable with
their new surroundings, although there may still be close ties to their previous cultures. In the
literature, one hallmark of the Entering phase was an individual’s sense of belonging (Hoersting,
2009). In the course of this study, while students often referred to the third culture program as
helping them find a place on campus, none of them referred to the International Students and
Scholars office as facilitating this Entering phase. In addition, conversations with Mr. White and
Mr. Caldwell did not reveal any specific events or interactions that their office took in relation to
the third culture students that could be tied with the phase.
The Reinvolvement Phase
Reinvolvement is a time when individuals in transition are becoming integrated into their
new location, and can be identified by the level of involvement with organizations and activities.
Due to the nature of this phase, where each individual finds ways to become reinvolved on their
own, it is often very student-self-directed. However, the International Students and Scholars
office still works to assist students in this final phase of transition. The main way that they do
that is through mid-semester meetings that the director performs with all students under the
purview of the office. Originally, this started as a way to check with all the new international
students, but Mr. White began incorporating TCK students as well. During this meeting, Mr.
White invites the students to meet with him one-on-one to discuss their semester. He has a brief
interview guide that he uses to ask questions (see Appendix I), but then in the course of their
discussion, Mr. White said he “expands on them a little bit” (personal communication,
September 24, 2012), and instead of asking students just what classes are they in, he’ll also “ask
them who their professor is too. And then I say, ‘what’s your favorite and why, what’s your
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 86
least favorite and why?’” (B. White, personal communication, September 24, 2012) in order to
gain more information about the student experience. Mr. White does not just concern himself
with the academic lives of students, but also asks:
How are you making friends, and who are they? And how do you do that? Where are
they? Are they people you met in class, in your dorm, at a house party? How does that
happen for you, and how do you feel about it? (B. White, personal communication,
September 24, 2012)
The process of meeting with the third culture students at Lewis and Clark is one way to ensure
that students are becoming integrated into the community, and demonstrates the concern that the
ISS office has for the third culture students that are attending Lewis and Clark. One of the
students agreed, stating that in her interview, she and Mr. White “just talked about my classes,
how I was doing, and I feel like that really helped” (S. Wilson, personal communication,
September 25, 2012). The interview that the students have with Mr. White is one way of
measuring how students are integrating into the Lewis and Clark community.
Third culture students at Lewis and Clark are not required to interact with the
International Students and Scholars office, unless they are also international students, a fact
which was acknowledged by many of the third culture students who participated in this study.
One student talked about the frequency of his interactions with the office and said:
They’re incredibly helpful, but I don’t go and hang out there or anything like that. It's
more like every now and then I need maybe advice on what to do with jury duty or
something like that. (J. Harris, personal communication, September 25, 2012)
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 87
However, many students still seem to appreciate the outreach that Brian and his office are able to
do, and stated that they found the staff of the office were also able to give them a different
perspective from the faculty and their peer students.
In addition to the mid-semester check in during a student’s first semester, another way
that the office monitors student reintegration on campus is through the university’s Student
Support Network, which gets involved when students are having problems on campus.
According to Mr. White, the network:
…is where faculty members would report a student having a problem, it might be where
campus safety, or the cashier’s office might report somebody having a problem, it’s kind
of a catch all sort of a thing and it meets for an hour or so every week, and just to trade
information…but the follow up would be, usually it’s the assistant director in this office,
or myself that would do that for TCKs. (B. White, personal communication, September
24, 2012)
In this way, the ISS office maintains involvement with international and third culture students
throughout the time they are attending Lewis and Clark.
Overall, the primary goal for the International Students and Scholars office is to serve as
a point of reference for third culture kid students. Using the Transition Cycle framework, the
interactions of the office with third culture kids were presented, and shown that the office is
involved in assisting students through their transition, beginning with the first recruitment
information that is distributed, continuing through their college search process, into their
decision to attend Lewis and Clark, and finally into the Orientation session and their first
semester at Lewis and Clark. In the perspective of the researcher, the International Students and
Scholars office successfully manages to interact with third culture students during the first few
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 88
months of their time at Lewis and Clark. The biggest challenge that the researcher found for the
office was that many of the third culture students did not seem to maintain these connections
after the conclusion of their first semester at Lewis and Clark. This could be due to the fact that
American third culture kids do not find the office as useful once they have settled in to American
culture. Findings related to the second research question will be discussed and presented next.
Question 2: What factors led Lewis and Clark to create the Third Culture Kid
organization?
Based on conversations with the current and former directors of the International
Students and Scholars office, the driving force behind the creation of the third culture kid
program at Lewis and Clark was the former director’s realization that there was a need for such a
program. The continuation of the program is attributed to the student intern position, which
occurred when the school was looking for a way to offer more student leadership positions.
These two issues will be addressed separately in the following pages.
Need for a Program
According to Greg Caldwell, the former director of the program, his first encounter with
the idea of third culture kids was on a recruiting trip to Asia, when he was approached by a
counselor from one of the high schools that had sent many international students to Lewis and
Clark: “We were having lunch and he said, ‘Greg, I know that you guys do a good job with our
international students but what do you do with the TCKs?’” (G. Caldwell, personal
communication, September 24, 2012), and Mr. Caldwell admitted that he did not know what the
term meant. After clearing up the definition, the two discussed third culture kids, and over the
course of the rest of his trip, Mr. Caldwell found the term being used more frequently. Upon his
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 89
return to Lewis and Clark, Mr. Caldwell discussed third culture student issues with several of the
students at the school, and became aware that third culture students on campus needed support.
The next year, Mr. Caldwell started a third culture group by appointing one of the third
culture kids on campus as the president of a student club devoted to third culture students. What
Mr. Caldwell noticed, though, was that volunteers had varying levels of interaction with the
group, and as they became more involved on campus, participation in the group seemed to
fluctuate as well. Although the group was “never off, it was more active some years than others.
And I was very busy so I had so much stuff to do. What really changed it all is when we got the
TCK intern” (G. Caldwell, personal communication, September 24, 2012). Due to his work load
with the International Students and Scholars office, Mr. Caldwell was not able to devote time to
running the group, and student volunteers were also not able to devote all their time to the group
either. It was not until the position of Student Intern was created that the group really started
being a presence on campus.
International Students and Scholars Student Intern Position
This position was created, according to Mr. Caldwell, because school wanted to find new
paths for student leadership:
The Dean of Students at the time was looking for ways to prove that we were doing
leadership for students and…he asked me about it and I said, “Oh yes, but I want it to be
a TCK intern. I don’t want it to be an International Student Office intern because that’s
where we need to support.” (G. Caldwell, personal communication, September 24, 2012)
As a result of this action, the student intern position is a paid position, and the person in the role
is responsible for supporting the International Students and Scholars office in their retention and
recruitment of third culture students, maintaining the online presence (social media, website,
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 90
etc.) of the third culture group at Lewis and Clark, and coordinating the third culture group
activities and meetings (Lewis & Clark TCK/ISS Intern position description, 2013). Together
with the director of the International Students and Scholars office, the intern works to ensure the
continuation of the third culture group at Lewis and Clark.
Currently, the student intern is chosen from the students who apply for the position. Mr.
Caldwell originally required that the student intern be someone who was a third culture student,
to ensure that they were able to understand the experience of being a third culture kid. Mr.
White did not specify whether he required the student to be a third culture kid, but both of the
student interns he hired did identify as third culture kids. In addition, students are required to
have prior leadership experience at Lewis and Clark (Lewis & Clark TCK/ISS Intern position
description, 2013). The Intern position description lists several principal duties for the intern, all
of which relate back to serving as a liaison for the third culture kids on the campus. Specifically,
the intern is tasked with supporting third culture kids through recruitment, retention and use of
the database of students that the office has created. The intern is also responsible for maintaining
the public face of the office, including the website, Facebook and listserv information for the
group, as well as having a good working relationship with several offices and organizations on
campus with which the Third Culture Kid program works.
In the literature, student involvement in ethnic organizations has been tied to increasing
student adjustment to their new campus (Museus, 2008, 2010). Although the third culture
program at Lewis and Clark is not an ethnic organization, it is one way for students to become
involved and find a support program on the campus. In addition, the involvement of the Director
of the International Students and Scholars office, along with the presence of the student intern,
provides an institutional agent who can connect the third culture kids with Lewis and Clark.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 91
Previous literature has shown that this type of interaction increases student cultural capital at the
school (Museus & Neville, 2012). The literature on international students also found that
institutional interactions can assist students in their transition and adaptation to an institution
(Roberts & Dunworth, 2012), found that if institutional support programs are delivered in a
student centered manner, they are more effective in assisting student transitions. Because the
creation of the third culture kid program at Lewis and Clark was based on Mr. Caldwell’s
realization that these students need support, he was able to design a program run by the intern,
which would ensure the student centeredness of the program.
Question 2a. What were the objectives of the program when it was founded?
According to Greg Caldwell, who was the director of the International Students and
Scholars office when the third culture kid group was created, his main goal for the group was to
help students through their transition period. This was accomplished by creating a support
network that students felt comfortable approaching, through the use of the student intern to
maintain focus and drive for the group, by identifying third culture kids as quickly as possible
and informing them of the group available to support them, and by publicizing the group and the
benefits that they brought to Lewis and Clark. Each of these actions will now be analyzed
separately for more understanding.
Creating a Support Network
Initially, Mr. Caldwell became interested in the third culture kid student topic because of
a conversation he had on a recruitment trip, and after returning to Lewis and Clark, he discussed
third culture kids with one of the Lewis and Clark third culture students that worked in his office:
I said, “I understand that [third culture kids] sometimes have difficulty adjusting and
stuff. Have you had any problems adjusting?” And then she broke down into tears and so
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 92
that that got me started. I thought, “Well goodness! What’s going on here?” (G. Caldwell,
personal communication, September 24, 2012)
After this conversation, Mr. Caldwell and a few third culture students at Lewis and Clark
decided to explore what and whether other schools were doing something for their third culture
students. After their research, they decided to create a student run, volunteer support group that
third culture students at Lewis and Clark could benefit from. Unfortunately, after a few years,
when the third culture student who had been running the program left Lewis and Clark, the group
seemed to become less active. At this point, Mr. Caldwell realized that there would need to be
more than just students getting together to ensure the longevity of the program.
Using the Student Intern to Drive the Program
As previously mentioned, the position of student intern came about when the Dean of
Students offered to fund a student intern position for the International Students and Scholars
office. Mr. Caldwell specified that the position should be filled by a third culture student, and
their responsibilities should be limited to third culture kid issues alone, with no other
involvement in the office. The other full time staff members in the office (an administrative
assistant and the assistant director for the office) did not interact with the intern; that was Mr.
Caldwell’s responsibility only:
It was just me and I would tell them. We would sit down and talk. So she or he was
exclusively really into the TCK stuff, but what happened was that gave me the way, the
method to do something because I was too busy. If it relied on me, I just would not have
the time! (G. Caldwell, personal communication, September 24, 2012)
It was this opportunity that allowed the third culture program to really begin to flourish, because
while Mr. Caldwell and the intern could meet to discuss projects for the intern to work on, he did
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 93
not have to spend his time on it, but could instead work to support the intern. While the intern
was responsible for the day to day running of the program, Mr. Caldwell concerned himself more
with the institutional support for the program.
Identifying Third Culture Kids During Application Process
In addition to the student intern being a key position in the development of the third
culture group, Mr. Caldwell realized that the intern would also need to be able to identify third
culture kid students, which would allow the intern not only to contact students, but also to begin
collecting data on third culture students at Lewis and Clark. It was at this point that Mr.
Caldwell was able to insert the question that identifies third culture students into the Lewis and
Clark application. This question helped the staff create and maintain a database that the intern
could use to find out information about the third culture population at Lewis and Clark. Initially,
Greg was interested in finding out “what is the retention rate for TCK’s compared to anybody
else? Or the GPA? Or are they clumped together on campus through housing?” (G. Caldwell,
personal communication, September 24, 2012). This information would then prove useful when
dealing with faculty, staff, or the administration of the school about issues that third culture
students were encountering.
Publicizing the Third Culture Kid at Lewis and Clark
Once there was more data on the third culture population at Lewis and Clark, Mr.
Caldwell was able to start introducing the concept of third culture kids across the campus. When
Mr. Caldwell had talked with the first few third culture kids about their adaption issues, one of
them had shared a story with him about her arrival at Lewis and Clark. When the student came
to campus in the fall, she approached the information desk to find out where the international
orientation was, “and the woman said, ‘Well, you’re three days early. What are you…?’ because
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 94
she looked like an American” (G. Caldwell, personal communication, September 24, 2012).
After hearing that story, Mr. Caldwell knew that one of the most important things the student
intern, third culture kid group, and his office could do would be to publicize the existence of
third culture kids on campus.
To increase the visibility of third culture kids on campus, Mr. Caldwell began referring to
the population of students that he worked with as “international students and TCKs” (G.
Caldwell, personal communication, September 24, 2012). He did this when interacting with any
of the Lewis and Clark faculty or staff, making sure to include the third culture designation in his
office purview. In addition, through attendance at the Association of International Educators
(NAFSA), Mr. Caldwell had established connections with Norma McCaig, who was then writing
and speaking about third culture students. Mr. Caldwell invited her to come to Lewis and Clark,
and she presented information about third culture students to a faculty group during the day, and
in the evening, met with students from the third culture group at Lewis and Clark. In this way,
Mr. Caldwell was able to bring the issue of third culture students to the attention of the
administration at Lewis and Clark, and as he said, “once you get it out there among the important
people like the provost or the president and everything, when they talk about it, then everybody
listens” (G. Caldwell, personal communication, September 24, 2012). In this way, Mr. Caldwell,
the International Students and Scholars office, and the student intern worked to bring third
culture students into the conscience of Lewis and Clark College, and created a long-lasting group
that could support the third culture students at the campus.
The literature on international student adjustment found that the institution, along with
student life, personal attitudes, and home can all help international students adapt to their new
environment (Gu, Schweisfurth, & Day, 2010). In creating the third culture kid program, Mr.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 95
Caldwell was working to create a program that would help the institution of Lewis and Clark
facilitate third culture student adjustment to the school. Identifying the students during the
application process and publicizing the presence of the students on campus is not discussed in
the literature previously reviewed for this study, but they are activities that can assist in creating
an institutional awareness, which can then ensure that the institution acts in a way that would
assist student transitions.
Question 2b. What are the current objectives of the program, if different from when it was
founded?
The current focus of the program is not much different than the initial focus of the
program. The current director of International Students and Scholars, Brian White, was the
assistant director in the office for many years prior to becoming the director; so much of the
structure of the office, including the third culture kid group has remained the same. The most
significant difference between the initial founding of the group and the current iteration is the
existence of the third culture group advisory board, which assists the intern in setting the goals
and directions for the group. The role of the advisory board will be reviewed later in this
chapter, as a function of answering the third research question, but because they are part of what
distinguishes the current group from the initial group, they need to be addressed briefly here.
The advisory board is made up of students from all undergraduate levels at Lewis and
Clark, and new members are chosen from third culture students who submit applications. The
returning members of the advisory board choose who will join them on the board, and they
attempt to ensure balance of genders, majors, and other interests, along with a balance of
students from every year. Once a student is on the board, they remain on the board until they
graduate. If a member goes on a study abroad semester, their space on the advisory board is held
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 96
for their return, and they are not expected to participate in activities while they are away from
campus.
The year that the researcher visited, incoming students applied to be considered for board
membership and were selected by the returning student board members. This was only the
second year in which an application was required. Previously, students were chosen as board
members by the student intern. Unfortunately, none of the participants in the study could
elucidate why the change in procedure had happened.
One of the other ways in which the current focus of the program is distinct is that there
are now at least two institutional agents for third culture kids on campus, in the form of the
former director, Greg Caldwell, and the current director, Brian White. The presence of
institutional agents has been shown to help minority student adjustment to a campus (Museus &
Neville, 2012). These two men both view publicity about the group and third culture kid
population as one of their primary roles as director of the International Students and Scholars
office, however it does seem as though both individuals are taking different tactics to ensure this
widespread knowledge.
During his tenure as director, Greg mentioned that he would often work with the student
intern and the third culture kid board to make sure that other offices on campus knew about
them, and kept third culture kid issues in mind when interacting with students. One example that
he shared was when he and two students, an international student and a third culture student,
visited different student services offices on the campus to give them information about the
international and third culture population on the campus. After explaining to the staff members
who they were, the students also used the time to give feedback about student interactions with
the office. One visit they made was to the Financial Aid office, where the students suggested
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that posting both a 1-800 number and a number with the Portland area code would be useful to
students living abroad, who could not call 1-800 numbers while abroad. Another visit that the
team made was to the Campus Registrar, where they addressed challenges third culture and
international students faced with the college’s application for graduation. According to Mr.
Caldwell, “it has your name and your address, you know ‘city’ and ‘state’ and it irritates them
and they said you know you need a place to put your country and what not, but they never
changed it” (G. Caldwell, personal communication, September 24, 2012). Although the group
was not entirely successful in this attempt to make their concerns known, they were able to
explain some information about their background, and make the offices aware of their situations.
While Mr. White did not have any specific information about encountering offices on
campus to make them aware of third culture kids, he did specifically address the role that he
plays in promoting interactions with faculty members. In talking about the events that the third
culture group may work on implementing, he said that the students might design an interesting
program and “they can invite professors, staff people, but a lot of times, we have to kind of, work
from a different angle to tell those professors why they should come, why they should care” (B.
White, personal communication, September 24, 2012). Playing the role of advocate for both
international and third culture students is something that Mr. White sees is a key function of his
job. In this way, both the former and current director of the office address the important role that
they play in paving the way for third culture kids to deal with faculty and staff at the Lewis and
Clark campus, and acting as important institutional agents. One of the challenges facing the
institution, however, is whether there are additional institutional agents who could provide
support for the third culture program at the school. Students mentioned the institutional
ombudsman, who is a third culture kid, and who is willing to meet with many of them about
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being a third culture kid. The ombudsman was not recruited to join in this study, due to this
study’s focus on the International Students and Scholars office.
Question 3: What are the services that the Third Culture Kid organization provides and
how are they aimed at benefiting third culture students?
There are several services that the organization provides, but the one that Mr. Caldwell,
the former director, sees as most important is the relationship between the different segments of
the group, which he describes as:
…a three legged stool. You have to have the support of a staff person, absolutely! That
person has the history of it; they have the clout with the administration…Then you’ve got
to have the TCK intern because they are the ones that do the work…and then you’ve got
the board or the advisory board (G. Caldwell, personal communication, September 24,
2012).
This multi-part approach is something that the students see as well, but most often, what has
them most excited about the program at Lewis and Clark is simply that it exists. According to
Sophia, she has mentioned the program to her high school friends, and they have all expressed
surprise that third culture kids at Lewis and Clark are supported in this way. Most of them “were
all just treated as normal American students. I know none of them got to move in early, and they
were invited to international orientation, but they were treated as non-international students, and
so they decided not to go” (S. Wilson, personal communication, September 25, 2012). Sophia
and her high school friends were not the only ones to notice such a difference; many of the other
third culture students who participated in this study shared similar information. Beyond
identifying the third culture students as a unique population, though, there are several other
services that the students identified as being a unique benefit of Lewis and Clark. Their
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introduction to the third culture group, and the presence of the student advisory board along with
the student intern were all identified as key benefits of the school and program.
Introduction to the Third Culture Kid Group
For many of the students, the presence of the third culture group on campus was a
significant event, and was said to be a great benefit to them. Eleven of the 19 students who
participated in this study reported that they heard about the group prior to or during their
application process. Some of those students heard about the program from Mr. White, when he
was visiting their schools:
He came and he had a table set up and I would always see the schools that were visiting
that day and I talked to him. He talked about the TCK Program and it was something that
I just never heard about from other schools. (O. Anderson, personal communication,
September 26, 2012)
Other students happened upon information about the third culture program, either through
family, friends or just complete coincidence:
I was visiting my aunt and uncle during the summer before my senior year of high school
in Greece and…we came to Lewis & Clark to take a walk because it’s a pretty campus
and it was at this time during New Student Orientation and…we were walking through
Templeton and then I saw this banner of ‘International Students of Lewis & Clark’ and I
was telling my aunt, ‘Oh, that’s so cool they have that, but I don’t know if I myself am an
international student or not.’…and then out of nowhere this student came up to us and
was like, ‘Oh, you must be a TCK’ and then started explaining the TCK Program so that
was really, really cool. (A. Thomas, personal communication, September 25, 2012)
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However the students found out about the group, ten of those 11 students who had heard about
the group during their admission process stated that the presence of the group on the campus
played a role in their choosing to attend Lewis and Clark over another school.
Of those who had not heard about the program until they arrived on campus, the
remaining eight students, approximately half, were introduced to the group by friends that they
made on campus, the other half were contacted by the International Students and Scholars office
and given information about the third culture group as a result of their application. For these
students, the common thread was that they did not identify as third culture students prior to their
time at Lewis and Clark: “I actually didn’t know until I came here that there was a TCK Program
that existed and the word TCK really got us after we came here. So before that I wasn’t really
aware of this.” (E. Taylor, personal communication, September 27, 2012)
Given that the stated goal of the International Students and Scholars office with regard to
the third culture kids group is to serve as a point of reference and support for these students,
having a majority of them know of the existence of the group prior to attending the school is
definitely a positive indicator of success for the office. The presence of such a group is also key
to ensure that students have an assisted transition to the campus. According to the literature,
transition programs can assist students in their transition to college (Davis et al, 2010; Hervey,
2009). While Lewis and Clark has an official transition program through their on-campus
orientation sessions, many of the third culture students also felt that the presence of a group
devoted to them was a help when they first came to the campus.
Support of the Third Culture Kid Group
In order to assess the student perceptions of the third culture kid group at Lewis and
Clark, students were asked how they would describe the group to other third culture kids who
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were not attending Lewis and Clark. All the students, when responding, mentioned that they felt
supported by their peers in the group, best illustrated through this statement made by a freshman
at the school, who said “I would tell them that there’s an actual community of likeminded people
who have experienced, who are in a similar situation” (M. Davis, personal communication,
September 26, 2012). In addition, many of the participants specified that the presence of the
third culture group, and the affiliation it had with the International Students and Scholars office,
made them feel that their concerns as third culture kids were recognized by the Lewis and Clark
community: “I definitely made people aware that there are, there is a TCK presence here and it’s
somewhat understood at least by the institution.” (W. Hall, personal communication, September
26, 2012)
Many students also mentioned that they felt the presence of the group, and the friends
that they had found, helped contribute to their sense of belonging on the campus. As previous
literature showed, a student’s sense of belonging can be a key factor in helping them adjust to a
new location, and as such, the third culture kid group, by offering students a place to fit in, also
seems to have helped students find their place, and assist in the Entering and Reinvolvement
phases of the transition for third culture kids at Lewis and Clark.
The students who participated in this study seemed to value their experiences with the
third culture group. Students appreciated the support and connections that they could make with
others who shared similar, if not exactly the same, experiences. When asked, most students cited
the time spent with other third culture kids as being the best part of the third culture group:
I think some of the best experiences have been the few conversations that we’ve had that
have been inter-generational when we’ve had not only students and not only board
members but also some faculty and staff or some, just, community members who have
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come and we’ve had discussions around our experiences either here at the school or in
general as our experiences as TCKs. (M. Thompson, personal communication, September
28, 2012)
It did not seem to matter the type of activity that they were doing, but as long as they were able
to make connections with others, they enjoyed most experiences. This ties in to the literature on
sense of belonging, and the fact that many students who find it challenging to define a home, are
often searching for a place that they can belong to (Hoersting, 2009).
However, this sense of belonging that they enjoyed came at a price. Eight of the nineteen
students, while enjoying the supportive nature of the program, also found it to be an easy way to
segregate themselves from the rest of the Lewis and Clark population, which they said was a
challenge. One student attributed his variable interest in the program to the information he got
from his friends who attended meetings and seemed to spend the meetings talking about how to
define third culture kids. “I always got bothered by how exclusive that was. And the whole
trouble of being a TCK is that you’re totally…no one is aware of you. So why would you make
it more exclusive?” (W. Hall, personal communication, September 26, 2012). Most students
reported wanting to feel less exclusionary toward non third culture kids, but they could not think
of specific ways to do that, other than to invite outsiders to join them in activities.
Role of the Advisory Board
In addition to asking students how they would explain the group to peers who were also
third culture kids, participants in the study were asked about the structure of the group and
organization, in order to gain a better perspective on the operations of the group. What resulted
was a discussion of the role of the advisory board within the group. Because the researcher was
able to talk with all the members of the student advisory board, as well as individuals who were
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not on the advisory board, both perspectives were gained to achieve a balanced view of the
organization. As was previously discussed, the incoming students interested in serving on the
board can submit an application, which is then reviewed by the returning board members, who
take into consideration the current make-up of the board (level in school, major, other interests,
etc.) before offering positions to the new students.
All students, those on the board and not on the advisory board, agreed that the structure
of the group was unique, and that the advisory board, together with the student intern, helped
make the organization distinctive. As Ava, one board member said:
We do have a plan and a structure whereas I feel with other clubs even, it’s kind of vague
meetings and you really don’t have a clear leadership board, but I think it’s…the fact that
the office is kind of organizing this. Yes we do have a person, that’s the intern and then
we do have an advisory board and the office. They’re not in the business necessarily, but
they oversee the general on-goings of it. (A. Thomas, personal communication,
September 25, 2012)
There are members of the board as well as those who are not on the board, but in the group
recognize that the board is a key way to engage students beyond the first few years at Lewis and
Clark. As one board member stated, “…unless you are on the board and you come to activities,
there isn’t much of a program” (J. Harris, personal communication, September 25, 2012).
Jacob’s point was that the key programmatic event for third culture kids seemed to be the
invitation to attend the international orientation. He also mentioned that this invitation seemed
unique to Lewis and Clark, as at many schools he’d heard of, third culture students were not
invited to the international orientation, because they were not considered international students.
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Chloe, another board member pointed out that most of the events are “populated by
underclassmen and then just some core upperclassmen,” (C. Brown, personal communication,
September 27, 2012) specifying the board members as being most of the upperclassmen who
attend, and pointing out that involvement in the third culture kid group activities seems to fall off
as students spend more time at Lewis and Clark. Both of these sentiments identify that one of
the challenges facing the student group is how to keep the group relevant for the incoming
students, without simply becoming a group for only upperclassmen and returning students. In
other institutions, and dealing with international students, Abe et al. (1998) found that using a
peer mentor program was helpful to incoming students, and found that it could increase the new
students’ understanding of the resources that were available to them. It could be suggested that
one way to increase the use of the third culture kid program would be through the introduction of
a mentorship program, which would enable board members to assist new and returning students.
Role of the Student Intern within the Third Culture Group
All the participants in the study were asked about the role of the student intern, and all
agreed that it was an important position, viewing the role as that of a facilitator between various
groups, and particularly, as one student put it, “the pillar of the TCK board” (M. Robinson,
personal communication, September 26, 2012). Specifically, the intern facilitated the connection
between the International Students and Scholars office, the third culture kid group and the
student population of Lewis and Clark, in addition to creating a sense of cohesion between the
students on the board and those who are not. The returning students who participated in this
study also drew comparisons between the intern at the time of the study, and the intern in the
previous year, which assisted in giving a better picture of the key role that the intern plays.
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Current students viewed the role of the student intern as a liaison who could represent
their interests to a broader population, stating that they saw the intern as someone who could
“tell the students that people like us exist at Lewis and Clark” (E. Jackson, personal
communication, September 28, 2012). The intern agreed, saying that one of her goals for the
year was “for TCK is to kind of be like a stronger group. Our group is not publicized on campus
as much as like international students are” (C. Brown, personal communication, September 27,
2012). In addition to creating a connection between the larger Lewis and Clark student
population and third culture kids, the board members also viewed the intern as being a great
representative for them to the International Students and Scholars office, as well as the reverse:
I think it’s good that [the intern] already knows what’s going on in the office and then
can help guide us in a way that we have more direct contact with Bridget and Brian
because without that there would be, you know, there’d be more room for
miscommunication. (A. Thomas, personal communication, September 25, 2012)
Some students, both board members and students who were not on the board, mentioned
that there had been challenges the previous year with the person in the intern role, for a variety of
reasons. One that was most commonly identified was that the previous intern had not really been
active in the third culture kid group prior to becoming the intern, and the students felt that she
did not necessarily identify as a third culture student until after she had been chosen to be the
intern for the previous year. Jacob, one of the board members, said it best, when he described
the situation:
…[the previous intern] hadn’t really been very participant in the TCK activities almost at
all, until she knew that she was going to be the TCK intern, in which case she came to
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 106
kind of learn, which is not the same. (J. Harris, personal communication, September 25,
2012)
Other issues that were mentioned were that the intern in the previous year had a different
leadership style than most of the board was accustomed to, and instead of delegating tasks and
involving the board, she seemed more likely to do everything herself, and “would take on a lot of
things on her own which I think maybe contributed a little bit to that sense it was less cohesive”
(M. Robinson, personal communication, September 26, 2012). Board members who had
participated in the group the previous year identified this as a challenge for them, because they
found that the board, and by extension, the group, much less connected than they remembered,
and than they wanted.
Suggestions for the Group
While the students who participated in this study had many good things to say about the
program, there were also areas that they felt could be improved on. One, as mentioned before,
was the feeling of exclusivity and segregation from other students on campus. Other issues that
students mentioned were the wish to create a connection with a larger third culture community,
better knowledge about their community within Lewis and Clark, and a longer lasting sense of
involvement with the group.
Madison, one of the board members, mentioned that she would like to see more
interaction with other third culture individuals beyond the campus, “whether it’s other TCKs that
are in the Portland community in general, or TCKs across the world” (M. Thompson, personal
communication, September 28, 2012). Although she had no suggestions as to how to facilitate
this, the desire to connect with others outside the sphere of Lewis and Clark third culture kids is
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 107
not surprising, and can be related back to the desire to feel a sense of belonging (Hoersting,
2009).
In talking with the student intern and with Mr. White, both had different opinions about
whether third culture kids were a well-known group on campus. Mr. White believed that “on the
staff side, we’ve done a number of departmental presentations” (personal communication,
September 24, 2012), and as such, seemed to think that most of them were aware of third culture
kids. The student intern, however, mentioned that “one of my goals is for the presence of TCKs
to be a little better known; the international students club here is very active, and they hold very
big events, but I felt like TCKs are kind of limited to just themselves” (C. Brown, personal
communication, September 27, 2012). This divide seemed to be echoed among the other student
participants of the study, with some agreeing with Mr. White that faculty, staff and students were
aware of their population, while other students agreed with the intern, that there needed to be
more outreach done in order for the student group and third culture presence to be known on the
campus. Because this study was bounded, and the researcher did not work with any students or
staff outside the third culture program, there is no way to assess whether there is a purposeful
lack of awareness about the third culture group on the campus.
The last suggestion that students brought up was regarding their interactions with the
student group. Ella pointed out that for her, while she appreciated the group, there did seem to
be a point at which it was less useful, saying “it was definitely helpful just knowing that there
was someone I could talk to and I definitely did take advantage of that, but I mean after freshman
year it wasn’t really helpful anymore. I didn’t really need help” (E. Lewis, personal
communication, September 28, 2012). There were other students who echoed this sentiment,
saying that they were less involved as they progressed through their time at Lewis and Clark. It
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 108
could be that as students move to being more involved on the campus, and are past the Transition
Cycle stage of Reinvolvement, they naturally begin to disassociate with the group, however there
was no specific evidence of that.
The final question that this study investigated involved the actions of the office of
International Students and Scholars, and this will be addressed next.
Question 3a. Do the students believe that they benefit from the support of the office? If so,
how do they believe they benefit?
The third culture kid students at Lewis and Clark did not always see the International
Students and Scholars office as directly supporting them at the school. However, in reviewing
the data, it became obvious that there were actions that benefitted the students which could be
attributed to the office, such as the multi-cultural housing that the institution provides in Akin
Hall.
Akin Residence Hall
The Akin residence hall was mentioned as one of the key spaces on campus for third
culture students at Lewis and Clark. Not only did students live in the space, but many of the
events that the program held were located in the space. At the time of this study, seven of the 19
students mentioned the Akin Hall residence area as a place that was welcoming for third culture
students, although not all of them lived there. Akin is the multi-cultural residence hall on
campus, and according to students, has a wide mix of third culture students, international
students and domestic students. As one student, who was a sophomore said, “I was in Copeland,
which is like, the athlete dorm [last year], but I knew I had to be in Akin this year. Just, so I
could get to know people from different places” (S. Wilson, personal communication, September
25, 2012). The same student added that due to the size of the residence hall, she was more likely
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 109
to get to know people, commenting “Akin’s so small, so it’s just one whole hallway on two
floors, so you kind of know everyone, and it’s a really close community” (S. Wilson, personal
communication, September 25, 2012). A different student found that while she appreciated that
Akin was there, she “didn’t live there last year, but I think a lot of TCKs choose to live there”
(O. Anderson, personal communication, September 26, 2012).
Living in the Akin Residence Hall requires completion of an additional application that is
submitted to the Office of Campus Living. In the application, students are asked to address how
they define multi-culturalism, specify the cultures that are important to them, and detail how
living in such a multi-cultural environment could assist in their development (Lewis & Clark
Office of Campus Living, 2013). In addition to promoting daily engagement in multi-cultural
settings, Akin Hall residents also assist in the planning of the Multi-Cultural fair in the fall, and
the International Fair in the spring semesters. Both events are planned in conjunction with the
third culture student intern and through that connection, are supported by the International
Students and Scholars office.
Akin is not just a residence hall for the third culture students, but often, many of “the
TCK events would be often held in the lounge of Akin” (A. Thomas, personal communication,
September 25, 2012) because it was easily accessible by the freshman students who participated
in the group meetings and events. This is one way that Lewis and Clark offers services to third
culture, and to international, students that they will benefit from.
Another student, while having a beneficial experience in Akin, ended up interacting less
with the third culture and international students in the scheduled events. According to Ella,
because she “lived in the international dorm, just by being there I knew a lot of international
students and other TCKs, and I didn’t feel like I needed to go to any of the events to meet
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 110
people” (E. Lewis, personal communication, September 28, 2012). This illustrates one of the
challenges discussed in the literature; it is easy for students to continue surrounding themselves
with co-cultural friends, and not necessarily encounter host country friends as well (Rajapaksa &
Dundes, 2002).
Direct Interaction with the Office
Except for Akin Hall, direct interaction between third culture kids at Lewis and Clark and
the International Students and Scholars office was found to be very minimal during the course of
this study. Most third culture students do not have interactions with the office beyond once or
twice a semester; the international third culture kids have more interactions than the American
third culture kids. All of the students interact with Mr. White when he has his mid-semester
meetings and checks in with each student in the middle of their first semester. However, the
third culture students see a clear delineation between the International Students and Scholar
office, which assists with procedural issues, and the third culture kids group, which helps
students transition into American college life. One American third culture student reported that
she only went to the International Students and Scholars office “more for things like, if I need a
signature for a club. And if I’m handing in, like, a form or something” (S. Wilson, personal
communication, September 25, 2012). Although students understood that the third culture kid
intern at Lewis and Clark was a part of the International Students and Scholars office, they did
not necessarily see the office as being a key support for the student organization.
The board members and the student intern saw more connections between the group and
the International Students and Scholars office, but even that was seen as somewhat confusing for
the students. The intern for the study period reported some initial confusion about her role as it
pertained to the office and the third culture kids group, “I got the impression that I was in charge
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 111
of both TCKs and International students” (C. Brown, personal communication, September 27,
2012). Initially, she had applied to become the intern because she “wanted to serve on the ISLC
board because I really liked that but [Brian] said that I should like open it up to someone else”
(C. Brown, personal communication, September 27, 2012) so that the weight of work was evenly
distributed.
Indirect Interaction with the Office
Although the students did not mention it, through the course of this study, it became
obvious that the International Students and Scholars office took actions that were meant to
benefit the third culture students at Lewis and Clark. Many of these actions have already been
discussed, but a brief review will be done here, to show how the actions impacted students. One
of the foremost actions that was taken on behalf of third culture students was Mr. Caldwell’s
insistence on the fact that his office assisted both international and third culture students. Doing
so began to make the campus population, from faculty to the president of the institution, aware
that there were two separate populations that the International Students and Scholars office
assisted. In addition, the fact that the International Students and Scholars office has several
pages on their website devoted to third culture kids shows the steps that the office has taken to
advocate for the third culture kids on campus. As a part of that website, not only are third
culture kids who are applying to the school given information about the campus, but there is also
a section about faculty and staff on the campus who identify as third culture students (Lewis &
Clark, n.d.e.).
In addition, the presence of both Mr. Caldwell and Mr. White on the campus, acting as
institutional agents for the third culture kids cannot be overstated. Although students may not
see the daily actions of either man as directly related to them, both men acknowledged that they
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 112
were there to help students who needed any type of assistance, whether it was school related, or
dealing with issues outside the normal classroom activities.
Conclusion
Overall, students at Lewis and Clark seemed to feel that the third culture program there
was helpful in several ways. In particular, the outreach that the International Students and
Scholars office did when they were recruiting students to the campus was deemed particularly
helpful for those students who had learned about it then. Including the third culture students in
the International Orientation, and even setting aside time for them to meet with other third
culture kids was also well received. The board members particularly found the existence of the
student intern as valuable, as that person formed a link between their actions and the office, and
was able to keep them informed of what was going on in the office. All students agreed that just
having a support program at Lewis and Clark was useful, as well as something that distinguished
Lewis and Clark from other colleges that they had been looking at. The presence of Akin hall as
a multi-cultural residence hall was something that appealed to many of the third culture kids,
even if they didn’t live there, they felt that knowing the space was there was helpful in assisting
their transition.
Conversations with the staff from the International Students and Scholars office were also
helpful in understanding the school’s relationship with third culture kids. Initially the program
was created as a support for students to share stories about their adaptation. After realizing that
maintaining the group was going to be a larger proposition than the director had time for, and
having the student intern position created, the office began to take more of a hands-off role and
let the intern set the guide for how the program would run. The director is still involved with the
institutional side of the program: recruiting students, ensuring that they have assistance if there
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 113
are any issues, but the day to day maintenance of the program is done by the student intern, in
addition to the advisory board. The three areas working together ensure that there will be
institutional affiliation within the organization, but also that the program will last for longer than
just a year or two.

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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION
Immediately preceding this chapter was a presentation of the research on a single-site
case study of the Third Culture Kid program at Lewis and Clark College. The third culture kid
population is one that has often been hidden, both from institutions and from research, due to the
fact that they are a small population. Lewis and Clark is one of only two institutions in the
United States that has a student run, institutionally sponsored support program. In the research
that has been done on this population, it has been found that third culture students transitioning
to college often struggle with questions of identity and establishing connections on their college
campuses. The purpose of this study was to examine one institution’s response to the
population. What follows is a summary of the current study.
Summary
This study began with the background of the problem, that there has been little recent
research done on the third culture kid population as they transition into college, and the support
programs that are available for them at the college level. Information regarding the existing third
culture kid college programs was related, focusing on the Third Culture Kid program at Lewis
and Clark College, in Portland Oregon. The purpose of this study was to perform an analysis of
this program to discover how it operated, and how the students interacted with the program. Due
to the nature of this study, only the program at Lewis and Clark College was investigated, and
only a small snapshot in time of the program was captured.
Chapter two featured a review of pertinent literature, which relayed information
regarding international students, third culture students, and student support programs. Although
there are significant differences between international students and third culture students, there
are also some similarities. In addition, there is much more significant research on international
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 115
students as a population, as compared to third culture students, so that research was included.
International student cultural adaptation in college depends on many factors, but these can be
summarized into the four focus areas of institution, student life, personal characteristics and
attributes, and home (Gu et al., 2009). These four areas formed the structure of the review for
international students. Institution relates to the institutional actions and characteristics that can
affect a student’s transition to their new location; institutional programs and structures were
found to help students transition (Abe et al, 1998; Coles & Swami, 2012; Ikwuagwu, 2010;
Mamiseishvilli, 2012). Friends, daily living issues, and accommodations create the backbone of
the student life area of focus; international students are likely to retain co-cultural friends in their
circles after moving, which can create adaptation challenges (de Araujo, 2011; Hendrickson et al,
2011; Poyrazli et al., 2004). Personal characteristics and attributes are related to the student’s
own language abilities and attitudes toward their situation; proficiency in the language of
instruction (Abe et al., 1998; Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007) and cultural identity with the host
country (Sussman, 2002) are both found to impact transition. The focus of home is the least
researched, but deals with interactions with family and friends in the home culture; for
international students, relationships with family and friends were paramount (Parr et al., 1992),
and impacted their goals for their time in college and after they graduated (Roberts, 2009).
Third culture kid research was structured around the five phases of the Transition Cycle
from Pollock and Van Reken (2009), which also formed the framework for this study.
Involvement is the first phase of the study, and is most similar to daily life, prior to encountering
any transition. The research on involvement is sparse, but this phase includes the third culture
kids interaction with the sponsor, who is the organization responsible for their move, and could
include business, governmental, or military ties (Downie, 1976). The next phase is that of
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 116
Leaving, where third culture kids and their families find out about and begin to understand the
implications of the next move. For many third culture students, this phase results in feelings of
grief, which can remain unresolved for long periods of time (Gilbert, 2008). The chaos of
Transition comes next, and usually features culture shock (Furnham, 1993), which can impact
the experience of being in college (Gaw, 2000; Sellers, 2011; Thurston-Gonzalez, 2009; Weigel,
2010). Entering occurs when third culture students are beginning to adapt more to their new
surroundings, although it is also an unexplored area of the transition, this is when students begin
to incorporate a sense of belonging to a new place, or encounter challenges because they do not
know where they belong (Hoersting, 2009; Moore & Barker, 2012; Nette & Hayden, 2007). The
final phase of the cycle is that of Reinvolvement, when individuals are integrated into the
community they have joined; for third culture kids, one way to achieve this normalcy is through
continuing education (Useem & Cottrell, 1993), which often includes aspects of
internationalization (Byttner, 2012; Cottrell, 2002).
Student support programs research is mostly related to ethnic or sexuality related centers.
While the Third Culture Kid program at Lewis and Clark is not directly related to either of those
topics, it does serve a minority population, so comparisons can be drawn between the two
groups. Minority student involvement with students similar to themselves has been shown to
have positive student impacts on transition (Jones et al., 2002), and having a space dedicated to
an ethnic center has also been shown to increase student comfort at an institution (L. Patton,
2006a, 2006b). In addition, minority student involvement with institutional agents, such as staff
members, can assist students in gaining cultural capital at an institution (Museus & Neville,
2012).
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 117
Chapter three reviewed the methods and methodology employed in this study. This
included the use of case study methodology to create an analysis of a bounded system, such as
the program at Lewis and Clark College. Qualitative research, featuring the researcher as the
tool for data collection and analysis, was used for this study because it allows for research that
will probe a situation in depth, resulting in discovery based studies (M. Q. Patton, 2002). The
data for this study were collected through a site visit to Lewis and Clark College, and all
participants were interviewed in person, using an interview guide to help structure data
collection. In addition, observations and document analysis were also used. The framework
used for data analysis for this case was the Pollock and Van Reken (2009) Transition Cycle,
described previously in this chapter. The findings were related in the previous chapter, but a
summary structured by the research questions follows.
Research Questions
Question 1: What are the objectives of the International Students and Scholars office with
regard to third culture students?
The International Students and Scholars office aims to act as a resource and contact point
for third culture students at the school. They do this by reaching out to students prior to their
application, during their Involvement phase, and continuing to maintain contact with them
through during the admissions process, which is a part of the Leaving phase. Once third culture
kid students plan to attend Lewis and Clark, they reach the phase of Transition, and are invited to
attend and participate in the International Student Orientation, where they have a chance to meet
with other international and third culture students. Once the orientation is complete, students
begin the Entering phase, where they begin to establish ties on campus. The final phase of
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 118
Reinvolvement occurs over time, and the office’s director meets with third culture students mid-
way through the semester to ensure that this phase is progressing smoothly.
The office does not run the third culture program activities directly because that is left to
the student intern; they do take the lead in establishing contact with third culture students, and
ensuring that they are available to work with any third culture students who may have questions
or concerns throughout their time at Lewis and Clark.
Question 2: What factors led Lewis and Clark to create the Third Culture Kid
organization?
A conversation between Greg Caldwell, the former director, and one of the high school
counselors led to the third culture kid experience being brought to his attention. As a result of
this conversation, Mr. Caldwell realized that there was a student population that was in need of
information, and that his office was best placed to assist them. Several years later, after trying to
keep the student organization running, he realized that the initiative needed more time than he
was able to devote, and when he was approached to create a student leadership position in his
office, he did so with the express intention of having this individual be in charge of the third
culture program, to ensure the persistence of the group.
Question 2a. What were the objectives of the program when it was founded?
Initially, the program was created as a way to support students in their transition to the
institution. This was done by creating the student group first, and then using the student intern to
grow the program and develop activities for students. Mr. Caldwell realized that by identifying
the third culture students as they were applying to the program, he would be able to gather data
about them and use that to present information about the population to the school. This, in turn,
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 119
could be used to publicize the presence of third culture kids on campus, and make them a
constituency that the institution would consider during decision-making.
Question 2b. What are the current objectives of the program, if different from when
it was founded? The current focus of the program has not changed since it was created. The
largest difference is that the program now has two individuals who can act as agents for it on the
campus. One is the current director of International Students and Scholars, Brian White, and the
other is former director Greg Caldwell, who has retired, but who is still active on the campus.
The other change is the creation of the student advisory board, which assists the student intern in
creating programs and interacting with new, incoming students. This advisory board will be
addressed in the next question.
Question 3: What are the services that the Third Culture Kid organization provides and
how are they aimed at benefiting third culture students?
The biggest service that the organization provides is the three prong support of the staff
director of the International Students and Scholars office, the student intern, and the student
advisory board. All three of these supports can advocate for the organization when necessary,
but they can also assist other students as they transition in to Lewis and Clark. The staff member
can step in and help smooth the path for student issues on an institutional level, while the student
intern is responsible for maintaining the program and keeping student interaction high. The
advisory board helps the intern create and run programs for the third culture students, and can
also help widen the circle of students who know about the third culture program. With that said,
however, there are also challenges that are encountered, particularly as relates to the clarity of
the program. The current student intern admitted to being somewhat unclear about her
responsibilities during the conversation she had with this researcher. In addition, the current
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 120
student advisory board reported facing challenges with the previous student intern; they felt
much less involved than previous years, and felt that she had taken on the responsibilities of the
program, and left them with nothing to do.
Third culture kid access to the International Orientation is a key support; many of the
students in this study reported that they were pleased to be involved in it, and that in discussions
with third culture friends who were not at Lewis and Clark, they had heard that this invitation
was unique among other colleges.
Question 3a. Do the students believe that they benefit from the support of the office?
If so, how do they believe they benefit? The students themselves did not necessarily see direct
correlations between their experiences and the office. However, through data analysis, evidence
was found that supports the idea that the third culture students are supported by the office. The
first example was Akin Residential Hall, which is the college’s multi-cultural residence hall.
Although it is not directly linked to the International Students and Scholars office, the residents
of Akin put on the multi-cultural fair with the help of the third culture kid student intern. In
addition, many of the programmatic events that benefit the third culture students are held in Akin
Hall, which supports the idea that the students are supported by the office.
There also more indirect ways that the students are supported by the office, including the
actions that Mr. Caldwell and Mr. White take on behalf of third culture kids on the campus.
Discussion & Analysis
The third culture kid population is hidden at many schools, although it is currently
unknown if that is because the population is not understood, or because schools have chosen not
to attend to the needs of this population. At Lewis and Clark College, however, the current and
former staff of the International Students and Scholars office has worked to create a program that
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 121
will assist third culture students while they transition to their new school. Through the use of a
question on the student application, the institution is able to determine which students fit the
description of third culture students, and therefore which students may need additional assistance
while beginning their time at the institution. This is just one way that the institution is
responding to the needs of the students; including them in the international student orientation is
another.
The literature on international students shows that institutional support is key for students
to make successful transitions to their new schools. The current study illustrates that for third
culture kids, the same thing is true. Having the support of an institution made the third culture
students at Lewis and Clark feel welcomed to the campus, and also feel that the school
recognized their contributions to the community. This relates back to the institutional support
that Gu et al. (2010) found was one of four influences that assisted international students in
transition. The other three influences were student life, personal attitudes and characteristics,
and home.
In addition to the support that the institution extends to third culture kids, the existence of
a student run program to assist with third culture kids also gave the student intern and the
advisory board a chance to take ownership of introducing their campus to the new third culture
kids, thus ensuring that third culture kids on the campus are easily welcomed into student life.
While it was not a one-on-one peer mentoring program, the availability and willingness of the
student intern and the advisory board to talk with new students assisted in their transition, and
enhanced the new students’ sense of belonging on the campus.
However, the aspects of personal attributes and home, which are sources of influence that
assist with transition in international students, were not really addressed by either the
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 122
organization or the office at Lewis and Clark. These are student-driven characteristics, which
individual students must address on their own. For this reason, it would be difficult for either the
organization or the office to force students to find personal characteristics or attributes of home
that could assist them in transitioning to their new community. The International Students and
Scholars office or the Third Culture Kid program could work to create a list of topics that the
group would be encouraged to talk about and address in their meetings. This would allow third
culture students a safe space to explore the ideas and memories that they have which other third
culture kids might understand. It also could be the case that these types of discussions do occur,
and that the researcher was unable to observe them due to the limited amount of time spent at the
campus.
One area of concern from the literature about third culture students is that two separate
studies (Useem & Cottrell, 1993; Cottrell, 2002) found that third culture students take longer to
complete their degrees than domestic American students. There was no evidence of this at Lewis
and Clark while the researcher was there, but Mr. Caldwell did mention that he had counseled
students who may have been interested in transferring away from Lewis and Clark, to make sure
they were using the resources that were available to them. No other evidence was gathered
regarding third culture students at Lewis and Clark who transferred away from the school.
The literature on student support centers and programs found that student involvement
with others who share characteristics led to a positive transition for minority students (Jones et
al., 2002). The Third Culture Kid program at Lewis and Clark is not a defined support center,
but acts as a resource to increase third culture kid interaction with other similar students on the
campus. From the student reaction to the program, it does appear to assist in students’ transition
to the institution. The same study (Jones et al., 2002) found that students identify the physical
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 123
space they are allocated on a campus to be emblematic of their value to the institution. While the
Third Culture Kid program does not have a specific defined space on the campus, many students
seem to view Akin Residence Hall as their primary physical space. One area of concern,
however, is that the program is housed in the International Students and Scholars office. If
caution is not employed, third culture kid students could begin to view their needs as subordinate
to those of the international students on campus. No evidence of such a viewpoint was seen
while the researcher was on the campus; but the director and student intern must ensure that this
remains the case.
The director’s role in relation to the third culture organization is to hire the student intern,
and to ensure that the director is, as a staff member, available to be an institutional agent when
necessary. The hiring of the student intern must be done carefully, to ensure that the program is
continued. When hiring the intern, the quality of their previous interaction with the third culture
organization must be taken into account. If the candidate is not seen as having participated in
previous events, there may be some disillusionment on the part of the advisory board. This
reaction depends on the structure of the board, but must be taken into account when hiring an
intern. In addition, the student intern should be seen as a leader on the campus, and someone
who has positive relationships with the offices and other organizations they will be interacting
with. As an institutional agent, the director must be willing to draw attention to the third culture
kids on campus, and work to promote both the student organization, and the students themselves
when necessary. At the same time, the director must be cognizant of the fact that the
International Students and Scholars office represents more than just the third culture kids on
campus and act in the interests of international students as well.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 124
One of the challenges facing the organization is the continued participation of students
who are not on the advisory board. Several students who participated in this study admitted that
for non-advisory board members, few of the events were likely to keep juniors and seniors
involved with the organization. It could be that as students become integrated into the campus
and college life they find less need for the program, but it could also mean that this is an avenue
to explore for future events. Interestingly, the researcher noticed that there was a class year-
based divide in setting up the student interviews on which this study was based. The first
students to respond and schedule their meetings were primarily sophomores and freshmen. Only
after a reminder email was sent were there more juniors and seniors who expressed an interest in
participating in the study. The researcher did not address this with any of the students, and it
could also be attributed to juniors and seniors having more commitments and less free time to
participate in a study such as this; however, just as several of the students noted that their
participation in the organization diminished over time, student interest in participation also
reflected the same shift. Programs detailing ways to tie their international experience into their
choice of a major, or their career objectives, could be a way of extending the interaction with
third culture kids and the program.
An additional challenge facing the program is its lack of clear goals and objectives. The
director discussed goals that the interns set for themselves, but these are leadership goals and not
necessarily student program goals. The student advisory board also seems to lack clarity on how
it can best help the student intern. The creation of a mission statement for the organization may
be helpful and allow everyone within the organization an opportunity to voice their opinion on
the best use of time for the group as well as the goals of the group. Many students seemed to
think only a small proportion of the Lewis and Clark population knew of their existence. The
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 125
student intern made broadening awareness of the organization one of her goals for the year; it did
not seem that the advisory board and the rest of the students were aware of this effort.
Recommendations for Research
This study was a single site case study, and as such, the researcher does not assume that
the analysis and findings will apply to all third culture programs on college and university
campuses. However, this study does aim to provide information on how one institution
determined a need for such a support program, and implemented that program for long-term
existence. With the increase in globalization, it is assumed that there will continue to be students
who grow up in multiple cultures, and who encounter issues of transition when attending higher
education.
This case study was only able to capture a snapshot of the students’ experience while at
Lewis and Clark College. Future research should include longitudinal studies of the students at
Lewis and Clark to better capture a true understanding of the student experience of transition,
and student interaction with the third culture program over several years. These studies should
include both American and international third culture students, as both may have different
experiences. In addition, future research could include an in-depth study of one year’s cycle of
the third culture kid program at Lewis and Clark, which would help inform other institutions
about the creation of such a program.
Additional research into the third culture population also needs to be conducted. Much of
the research presented in the literature review was dated, from the second half of the twentieth
century. With the technological advances since then, it is likely that third culture students today
are experiencing a different transition than those of the 1960s, or even the 1990s. Filling the gap
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 126
in this literature would enable institutions to better understand how they can assist these students
while they are in transition.
Recommendations for Practice
For institutions and student affairs professionals considering the creation of a program to
assist the third culture students on their campus, this study identifies several key components for
success, including identifying third culture students, having a multi-part support network, and
finding a variety of institutional agents who can support third culture kids on the campus. All of
these components can be introduced at an institution with a minimal investment.
First, institutions must be able to identify the third culture students on campus. One
option is Lewis and Clark College’s practice of asking students to self-identify as a third culture
kid while they are in the process of applying for admission to the institution. While there may be
students who do not self-identify, a majority of them are likely to identify themselves. Whether
institutions use the Common Application or their own in-house application for admission, it is
recommended that they consider inserting a question to identify third culture kids. Identifying
third culture kids on campuses is highly recommended, even if the institution does not currently
have the resources to create a support group on the campus. After third culture kids are
identified, the institution can then take steps to gather data that will enable the students to be
supported appropriately. Longitudinal studies can be done to see if third culture kids are being
retained at a different level than other groups of students. Other aspects of student development
can also be analyzed, such as successful progression to degree requirements, institutional GPA,
etc. Only once third culture kids are identified on a campus can student affairs professionals
begin the work of supporting them.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 127
Second, to ensure the longevity and efficacy of the program, staff and students must work
together. An institution must determine where it wants to house a third culture kid program, and
then work to determine what type of program would work best with the structure of the
institution. While the structure of the program at Lewis and Clark works for that institution,
other schools may choose to have only a staff member and advisory board, or a staff member and
a student intern. Once those decisions are made, the staff member who will be responsible for
the program may begin the work of creating the basic structure of the organization. After this is
done, they should begin to work closely with the student or students who will be responsible for
day-to-day operations. It is recommended that the staff member who supports the third culture
kid program be in a position of authority at the institution. At Lewis and Clark, part of the
reason that the third culture program was successful was due to the actions of the directors.
Because both Mr. White and Mr. Caldwell had well-established connections at the school, they
were able to act as institutional agents for the third culture kids. This could mean that other
institutions add the third culture program to the responsibilities of a staff member who is already
at the institution, or create a new position for the staff member. Either way, the staff member
must be empowered to act in the best interests of third culture kids on the campus, and be willing
to be a voice for them within the administration of the school.
At Lewis and Clark, the tri-part structure consisting of an advisory board, a student
intern, and a staff member works best to support the incoming students. The student intern
position at Lewis and Clark allows there to be a bridge between the staff and the students who
participate in the organization. In this way, the organization has continuity (from the staff
member), but is driven by the student intern, who may have new ideas to incorporate each year.
Using a student intern to guide the program offers several benefits. Not only will new interns
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 128
bring new ideas each year, but because the intern will take responsibility for the organization,
there will not be a significant increase in work load for staff at the institution. As a result, this
will reduce the expenditures that the institution will have while maintaining the organization.
The program itself would be able to apply for student funding through the existing undergraduate
student governance structure, thus putting no additional cost burden on the institution. If a
student intern position is created, compensation will need to be determined for that position. At
Lewis and Clark, compensation came in the form of a room and board allowance. This may not
work for all institutions, so alternate arrangements, including hourly pay or other forms of
compensation may need to be established.
Third, this study revealed the benefits of supporting third culture students in multiple
ways. Institutions are encouraged to find staff and faculty members, para-professional student
assistants, and student organizations, and make them aware of the population of third culture kids
on the campus. These are all avenues of support for third culture students, and by working to
target the students from a variety of areas, an institution will ensure that all third culture students
on the campus are able to be helped.
For many institutions, there may be hesitation with regard to implementing these ideas
due to concerns about time commitment or cost concerns. However, institutions with these
concerns should be reminded that the program at Lewis and Clark is but one small piece of the
work undertaken by the International Students and Scholars office. The office’s primary
responsibility is working with and providing services to international students, but the
international aspect of third culture student life means that they are easily folded into the mission
of the International Students and Scholars office. The office is able to recruit third culture kids
by making sure to include trips to international secondary schools, which can be easily included
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 129
with trips to recruit international students who are attending local schools. Due to the structure
of the organization - with an advisory board assisting the student intern, who is in turn
supervised by the staff member responsible for the organization - there are no significant time
commitments required of full-time staff.
Conclusion
The third culture kid program at Lewis and Clark is one of only a few support programs
that was discovered for this project. The program’s existence since 1992 can be attributed to the
support of staff, student interns, and the student advisory board; only by using all three together
will the group continue to exist. Research on the third culture population is limited, but this
study shows that the population will utilize a support program, as long as they find the benefits
useful. Including third culture students in the international office allows them to feel that their
issues are understood, but also seems to create some misunderstanding within the students about
how they interact with the office.
THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 130
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THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 141
Appendix A
Recruitment letter sent to all group members
Dear [Name],
My name is Sarah Holdren, and I am a doctoral candidate in the Rossier School of Education at
University of Southern California (USC). I am conducting a research study as part of my
dissertation, focusing on third culture kids and their transition to higher education at Lewis and
Clark College. You have been identified as someone who might be ideal to participate in the
study. Participation would require one interview of up to 60 minutes, with a possible follow up
interview of no more than 30 minutes. The interviews may be audio-taped.
Participation in this study is voluntary. Your identity as a participant will remain confidential at
all times during and after the study, and all interviews will take place on the Lewis and Clark
campus. Your relationship with Lewis and Clark, or their third culture kid programs will not be
affected whether or not you participate in this study.
If you have questions or would like to participate, please contact me at 213-999-5944 or
sholdren@usc.edu.
Thank you for your participation,
Sarah Holdren
University of Southern California

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 142
Appendix B
Approval to Conduct Study from University of Southern California

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 143
Appendix C
Approval to Conduct Study from Lewis & Clark College

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 144
Appendix D
Consent form given to all participants

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 145
Appendix E
Interview protocol for all Lewis & Clark College students
1. What are the places that you have lived? (background)
a. What are your cross-cultural experiences?
2. How did you first hear about the Lewis and Clark third culture kid program? (RQ3)
a. If you heard about it during the college search, did it have any impact in your
choice of college?
3. What are your experiences (how are you involved) with the third culture kid program at
Lewis and Clark? (RQ3)
a. Are you involved in planning any events for third culture kids on campus? (RQ3)
4. What has been the best experience you’ve had through the third culture kid program?
(RQ3a)
5. Is there anything you would change about the program? (RQ3a)

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 146
Appendix F
Interview protocol for current Director of International Students and Scholars Office
1. What is your current role? (background)
2. Do you interact with third culture kid students at Lewis and Clark? (background)
o If yes, how
o If no, thank you and conclude the interview.
3. What role do you view the International Students and Scholars office as having, in
relation to third culture kid students? (RQ1, 2, 3)
4. Are there yearly objectives for the Third Culture Kid program? (RQ1, 3)
5. How does the office define third culture kids? (RQ1a)
6. To the best of your knowledge, is the office definition consistent with the definition that
students use? (RQ1a)
7. What are the events that third culture kids can participate in? (RQ3)

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 147
Appendix G
Interview protocol for retired Director of International Students and Services office
1. What prompted the creation of the third culture kid program at Lewis and Clark? (RQ2)
2. What were the goals of the third culture kid program when it first started? (RQ1)
3. How did the office define third culture kids when the program was first started? (RQ1a)
4. Did you notice a difference in the office definition and the definition that students use?
(RQ1a)
5. While you were at Lewis and Clark, what role did you view the International Students
and Scholars office as having, in relation to third culture kid students? (RQ1, 3)

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 148
Appendix H
Brochure sent by Lewis & Clark College to prospective Third Culture Students

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 149

THIRD CULTURE KIDS AND COLLEGE SUPPORT 150
Appendix I
Mr. White’s interview guide for mid-semester meeting with new students
Name: Counselor Name:
Fall/2011 Counselor Email:
OK to contact?

What classes are you taking? What is your favorite & why? Least favorite & why?

What classes will you take next semester? What influenced your choices? Who is your current
faculty adviser & how do you work together?

What do you do for fun? What extra-curricular activities have you done? How often do you get
off-campus? Where do you go? Do you have a job? Where & how many hours? How has it
been making American friends?

Where do you live? Who is your roommate(s)? Where is s/he from? Do you get along? How
do you like your accommodations? Heat/lights/hot water/noise? Safe? Have you noticed
students with alcohol or drug problems?

Overall, how would you describe your experience during your first semester at LC? Was it like
you expected? When you look back over the fall, what is one thing you want to change during
your second semester?

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This single site case study applies the Transition Cycle framework (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009) to an institutionally-based, student-run support program for Third Culture Kids. The purpose of this study was to examine how Lewis and Clark College responded to the presence of Third Culture Kid, or Global Nomad, students on campus by creating a student support program in 1992. This study examined the aims of the institution with regard to the program, the factors that led to the creation of the program, the current focus of the program, and the services that are offered to students. Student perspectives on the organization were also considered. This study utilized qualitative methodology including interviews with staff and third culture students at Lewis and Clark, site observation, and document analysis, with the goal of understanding how the support program operates. Findings from this study indicate that the program operates as a support network for third culture students on campus, and that the institution's staff, student advisory board, and student intern work together to keep the program operating and relevant to current students. Key factors include identifying third culture students early in the application process and making sure that the community is welcoming to all students. This study illustrates how one school has worked to recognize the experiences of third culture students, and suggests ways that other schools may work to adapt such a program to their campus.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Holdren, Sarah Jennifer (author)

Core Title Third culture kids and college support: a case study

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 07/17/2013

Defense Date 05/15/2013

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Administration,global nomad,Higher education,OAI-PMH Harvest,student support program,third culture kid,transition

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Diamond, Michael A. (committee chair), Robison, Mark Power (committee chair), Merriman, Lynette (committee member)

Creator Email sarah.holdren@gmail.com,sholdren@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-292063

Unique identifier UC11288183

Identifier etd-HoldrenSar-1790.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-292063 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-HoldrenSar-1790.pdf

Dmrecord 292063

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Holdren, Sarah Jennifer

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA