Advertisement
Hong Kong university research links mainland China trips to greater sense of national identity among local students
- Polytechnic University duo say visits across the border should play greater role in undergraduate studies
- Those who took part had more positive perception of mainland after visit than before, study shows
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Scholars from a Hong Kong university have said short trips to mainland China should play a greater role in undergraduate studies, after research linked visits by local students to an increased sense of national identity.
Advertisement
But the study, led by two applied sciences academics at Polytechnic University, was conducted during the 2018-19 academic year, meaning the impact of last year’s anti-government protests had not been entirely factored into the findings.
In fact, some participants dropped out in the middle of the research after the start of the protests in June 2019.
Among the 380 students from eight local universities who took part in the study between January and September last year, all participated in 21 short-term programmes visiting various cities on the mainland, with trips lasting between one and eight weeks.
Advertisement
They were polled both before and after the trips, which included cultural tours, service learning and summer term programmes, to track the differences in their intercultural attitudes, perceptions about the mainland and sense of national identity.
Advertisement