Third Culture Adults in Global Transition

TCKs: A Growing Global Trend?

This past week, I unexpectedly met 3 ATCKs -- two over dinner and one in a doctor’s office. The two young ladies, whom I met over dinner, and whom did not know one another prior to this evening. I could not help but notice how the two of them began to click as they increased their conversation, each sharing that they had difficulties with having people understand them, their interests or their world views. On the surface, they appeared to come from totally disparate walks of life, yet on some core level, there they were, having an intimate conversation about interests and getting together to “hang out.”

As the evening moved along, I discovered through conversation that they were both TCKs – a term wholly unfamiliar to them. As I explained the term, they leaned forward, as if I was speaking language that they had yearned to speak, but did not know existed.

The other young lady from the doctor’s office became extremely excited as she recognized that I had seemed to connect with what she was sharing with her coworkers about her lived experiences. I must admit, they seemed to be drawing blanks as she spoke. She turned towards me to continue her conversation, once she detected that I seemed to possess some understanding of the intricacies of her world and that of her TCK children. I cannot begin to describe the smile that went across her face, as I shared with her that there was now language for her experiences and resources available to support her and her children.

Is it that my skills at detecting who might be TCKs are improving, or is the TCK population growing?

TCKs as the "New Normal" Prototype

Over the past few years, Ruth Van Reken and I have been working on a concept that we call hidden diversity. I would like to invite my readers to check out a blog that Ruth and I have started to provide a forum to discuss thoughts and ideas about this concept.

Ruth highlights in her January 4, 2008 post, as those who have grown up ourselves, raised our children, and lived our professional and personal lives among many different cross-cultural worlds both in the US and internationally, and we believe this discussion is so vital to describing and finding language for the "new normals" a cross-cultural lifestyle creates for so many in today's globalizing world. For example, I have discovered while traveling the globe to speak on issues related to Third Culture Kids (TCKs) that many in my audience will come up and say "I relate completely to the profile you describe for TCKs, but I never grew up the way my [child, student, employee] is (or did). Am I allowed to apply some of these things to my own life?"

If you would like to read more about our thoughts on this concept, please visit, Hidden Diversity in a Globalizing World.

Also, while shamelessly plugging my "HIdden Diversity"" blog, I would also encourage you to check out A Home for Third Culture Kids. I recently discovered this popular blog, was created by a young TCK. It is loaded with lots of information and discussions about being a TCK/CCK. Check it out -- http://www.tckid.com.