Transnational Education Mobility and Identity Formation

A Critical Analysis of Student Experiences in Globalised Higher Education

Abstract

Transnational education (TNE) increasingly combines branch campuses, joint institutes, and hybrid pathways, yet the identity work students undertake within these arrangements remains under-specified. This article synthesises recent scholarship to explain how mobility intersects with recognition, language, assessment, and support to shape belonging, academic outcomes, and wellbeing. A systematic review was conducted across Scopus, Web of Science, APA PsycInfo, and ERIC. Searches covered 1 January 2020 – 31 July 2025 and followed PRISMA procedures. After screening 840 records and assessing 123 full texts, 18 studies met the inclusion criteria.

Synthesis generated three major themes. First, institutional, linguistic, and assessment infrastructures act as identity drivers: recognition climates vary across international branch campuses, joint institutes, and remote metropolitan models; translanguaging policies and language-aware rubrics broaden epistemic access; dialogic feedback redistributes authorship. Second, mediational ecologies of belonging link peer networks, co-curricular participation, and hybrid mobility to agency and persistence, with host-national ties and experiential communities scaffolding classroom voice. Third, design and governance for equity require co-created curricula, portable cross-site supports, and partnership quality assurance anchored in parity-of-esteem and identity-sensitive indicators. Linguistic legitimacy emerged as a proximate gatekeeper of participation, while assessment design operated as the hinge converting participation into durable identity claims. Distributed delivery amplified variation unless advising, writing support, and moderation “travelled” with students. The review concludes that mobility becomes formative when governance, pedagogy, and services align to recognise plural repertoires as credible demonstrations of competence. Practical implications include rubric reform, integrated support architectures, and shared dashboards to monitor belonging, participation, and progression across sites.