Exploring students’ navigation of agency and identity formation in international branch campuses in China

Students’ experiences at International Branch Campuses (IBCs) in China are often framed through the lens of cultural fusion. However, such representations tend to oversimplify the deeper power relations that shape how students act, belong, and understand themselves within these institutions. Using semi-structured interviews with 19 students from four IBCs and longitudinal participant observation, this study reveals that IBCs function as contested Third Spaces—sites of negotiation, resistance, and the formation of new subjectivities. The findings identify three key themes: the ambivalence of mimicked freedom, the performance and politics of hybridity, and the forging of a critical transnational subjectivity. Drawing on Homi Bhabha’s theoretical framework, this study extends his concept of the Third Space by highlighting IBCs as politically charged environments that simultaneously promote global neoliberal identities and cultivate critical agency. By foregrounding student voices, this research provides a deeper perspective on identity formation within the globalized higher education landscape.