Examining Ethnicity: Patterns of Minority Identification Among Children of Interethnic Marriages in China

Abstract

Abstract Ethnic identity is a highly contested issue in China. Yet, the literature on the social construction of ethnoracial identity is dominated by research on the Americas. In this study, we investigate patterns of ethnic identification among children of interethnic parents in China using census data from 2000 and survey data from 2010–2018. We focus on children who are aged 20 or younger and have one parent identified as an ethnic minority and one parent identified as an ethnic Han. We find that the strongest predictor of a child's minority identification is the father's ethnicity. Minority identification is also associated with gender, birth year, mother's education, household income, migration status, parent's perception of the child's diligence, the geographic concentration of minorities, and eligibility for ethnicity-based bonus points on the college entrance examination. Taken together, the results suggest that children's ethnoracial identity is shaped by family demographic characteristics as well as by education policy.