How important is English, Mandarin, and Cantonese for getting a job? Exploring employers’ perceptions of linguistic capital in Hong Kong

Abstract

As a global city, English proficiency in Hong Kong is seen as a form of cultural capital in everyday life, particularly in the labor market. Studies have substantiated that in Hong Kong, white privilege is evident, as can be seen in that white people are more likely to occupy managerial positions and have higher pay than members of other ethnic groups. After returning to China’s rule in 1997, however, with an increasing flow of migrants from mainland China and closer ties to the Chinese market, Mandarin has gradually gained importance. Taking a field experiment comparing the callback rates received by three distinctive groups of applicants: Whites (Anglo-Saxons), local Hong Kongers, and mainland Chinese, as well as interviews with human resource managers and employers in finance-related industries, this study finds that whiteness and English proficiency are being overestimated while the importance of Cantonese and Mandarin are underestimated by job applicants in Hong Kong. This article contributes to the literature on ethnicity, language, and hiring practice in showing how different linguistic capitals associated with ethnicity are evaluated from employers’ perspectives.