Birds of a Feather—a Study of Social Networks of Mainland Chinese Students in Hong Kong

Our study addresses the issue of network building processes of mainland Chinese undergraduate students in Hong Kong, especially in terms of the homophily tendency in their social networks.  Mainland Chinese students account for 10% of the university undergraduate population in Hong Kong today. Like all newcomers, they need to adjust to the new environment, and their social network members play a very important role in this process.

We shall study choice homophily: the type of homophily produced by individual preferences.  Although people in mainland China and Hong Kong share the same culture, they are under very different political and economic systems. We shall also study induced homophily: the type of homophily produced by the opportunity structure.  We want to find out why mainland students associate with, mostly, mainlanders, given the fact that there are plenty of opportunities for them to come into contacts with local students.

The data comes from a 2011 survey of Mainland undergraduate students in a Hong Kong university, and from in-depth interviews with them. Preliminary findings reveal three sets of factors that promote establishment of in-group contacts (discouraging out-group relationships) for mainland students in Hong Kong.  First, differences in values, beliefs and behavior are major obstacles in establishing cross-group relations. The second factor is status homophily.  Most of the mainland students are from upper-middle class or upper class families; whereas the majority of the local students come from middle class or lower middle class families. The two groups differ not only in terms of consumption patterns but also in terms of future career aspirations, making cross-group relationships more difficult. The third factor is about contact opportunities. Our findings show that it is not just the presence of opportunities that makes a difference. The timing, that is, when these opportunities become available, is also very important.