Third Culture Kids’ Career Choices and Mission Call

Abstrakti

The objective of this paper is to describe the survey on third culture kids’ (TCKs’) career choices and mission call. The survey aimed to find out how international childhood has influenced the choices of education and profession, how many third culture kids choose a missionary career, and which factors contribute to those choices. The data is based on responses of 48 Finnish and American adult missionary kids. The theoretical background is derived from studies on third culture kids, interviews, and biographies. It suggests that the years spent abroad have a significant impact on adult third culture kids’ life choices. The survey results confirm that. The third culture kids have higher education than their peers and most pursue a college or university degree. Most third culture kids choose a profession with an international dimension and practical application abroad. Almost half of the missionary kids wish to become or have become missionaries themselves, and another third wishes to live and work abroad.