How to exercise agency in the ‘third space’? Exploring Chinese mainland students’ experiences at a Hong Kong institution’s branch campus

As a transnational higher education model, international branch campus (IBC) embodies a blend of global influence and local characteristics. It can also reproduce Western-centric assumptions about knowledge, culture, and credential value under certain institutional and discursive conditions. The hybrid and tension-filled nature of IBC offers students a complex educational experience that requires them to exercise agency in navigating their learning process. While research on IBC students’ experiences is increasing, few studies have focused on their agency. Drawing on the notions of agency and third space, this qualitative study explores how Chinese mainland undergraduate students exercise agency at a Hong Kong institution’s branch campus in the Greater Bay Area. Based on semi-structured interviews with 15 participants, this study finds that students have enacted agency through clear motivations and goals, adaptable self-reactiveness, and profound reflection on themselves and the IBC environment. The findings also show that Western-centric hierarchies can become salient in students’ perceptions, while students may reinterpret and negotiate these influences through agency. These insights advance understanding of student agency within the transnational higher education context and offer implications for creating more supportive and inclusive IBC learning environments.