Ethnicity, education and empowerment

MaryJo Benton Lee, 2001, Ethnicity, education and empowerment: how minority students in southwest China construct identities, Ashgate

Pp 8-9 An overview of literature:
1) Some ethnic minority students are able to construct personal identities that allow them to do well in school. In essence, these students learn "strategies to attain achievement-related possible selves".

2) These socially constructed selves rely heavily on the backing of reference groups at the family, village, primary/secondary school and university levels. Personal definitions of self by ethnic students are combined with social definitions by reference groups. The result is a constructed self, personally empowered to overcome academic obstacles and to achieve in school.

3) Self-conceptions at the individual level are influenced by social structures at the societal level. The structural context of interaction sometimes constrains and sometimes supports the construction of achievement-oriented selves by ethnic students. Discriminatory practices would be an example of a structural constraint. Preferential government policies that give advantages to minority students in China would be an example of a structural support.

4) Reference groups play an important role in how ethnic students view themselves, and self-concept is among the most powerful predictors of academic achievement.

5) The process of empowerment among ethnic students in China is rooted in their commitment to help families and their villages. The logical way to do this is by acquiring education for themselves. Through this education, the students also acquire the "prestige, status, honor and power to make changes" that benefit their ethnic groups.

Pp 9-10 Research questions:
1) How do ethnic minority students in China construct personal identities?
2) What influence do reference groups have on minority students?
3) How do social structures both constrain and support identity construction by minority students?
4) How do personal identities and reference groups relate to academic achievement for minority students?
5) What role do educated minority students play in their own empowerment, and what role do they intend to play in the empowerment of their ethnic groups?

Pp 15-16 Overview of the text:
Chapter 1 provides basic information of the study. Chapter 2 gives more contexts for the understanding of identity construction among minority students.

Chapter 3 explains the symbolic interactionism, it is an effective framework for looking at identity construction among minority groups. Symbolic interactionist theory posits that people define situations within which they find themselves and then, in keeping with these definitions, engage in what they believe to be the most appropriate action.

Chapter 4 presents research design, addressing such issues as site selection, researcher roles, key informants and field assistants.

Chapter 5, 6 and 7 contain the findings of the study. Chapter 5 concerns the influence of the large-scale social structures on minority students' self-conceptions. The structural constriants, such as the poverty of minority families, the inadequacy of rural schools and so forth, as well as the structural supports for minorities students from Chinese state. Preferential policies are designed to ensure the eventual equality of the minority nationalities with the Han majority. Ethnic students have greatly benefited from attending special schools, receiving financial aid and being awarded additional points on national examinations.

In 6, students discuss the coping strategies they developed that ultimately led to educational success and to college admittance. They told how, through a series of definitions and redefinitions, in their families, villages and schools, they managed to construct images of themselves as academic achievers, in a micro level analysis on the interpersonal interactions with significant others. Both 5 and 6 deal with academic success of minority students during pre-college education, one in structural perspective and the other from a microinteractionist perspective.

Chapter 7 looks at the stories of minority students in colleges and universities in both abovementioned perspectives.

The identity construction process is ongoing throughout higher education, personal definitions of self by ethnic students are combined with social definitions by reference groups. The result is a constructed self, able to achieve academically in the mainstream of schools and empowered to function effectively within the larger society.