Macro and micro factors in ethnic identity construction and educational outcomes: minority university students in the People's Republic of China

This article develops a theoretical model for examining the interrelationship between ethnic identity and educational outcomes. The model is aimed at developing an understanding of why ethnicity may at times make a difference in academic performance and student empowerment. Ethnic identity is conceptualized as a product of multiple levels of societal structures in a dialectical relationship with the individual student, who constructs reality and responds to the constructions of others. The historical–social situation of minority university students in the People's Republic of China is used to develop and illustrate the model. The model includes macro components (such as the nation‐state's designation of some groups as minority nationality or ethnic groups, and the social scientific construction of ethnicity) and micro‐level components (such as the student's family and community background, significant life events, campus status hierarchies, campus interactional experiences and status negotiation by the student).