Avoiding the “Rat race”: Hong Kong students’ sense of belonging to a Chinese university in the Greater Bay Area

Inbound Hong Kong students constitute a substantial and growing population at mainland Chinese universities in the Greater Bay Area (the GBA). However, their university experiences and the ways in which they construct sense of belonging to Chinese universities have been under-researched areas. The qualitative interview study was conducted in one mainland Chinese university located in the GBA with ten students in years 1 and 2 of their undergraduate studies. This research challenges the homophily belonging assumption. Collected data suggest that the students made meaning of and operated university belonging counter to the institutional rat race culture on the mainland campus.