Choice of higher education in India and its determinants

Khalid Khan ()
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Khalid Khan: Indian Institute of Dalit Studies

International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, 2022, vol. 16, issue 1, No 11, 237-251

Abstract: Abstract This paper, based on the quantitative evidence, presents a micro-economic analysis of the choice of higher education that individuals make. Using 75th round National Sample Survey, 2017–18 data on enrolment in higher education (cross-sectional data), the determinants of choice of higher education are investigated. The overall enrolment rate in India follows the identity based pattern with Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Castes (SC) lying at the bottom of the ladder among the social groups and Muslims as the most vulnerable group among the religious groups. The inequality disappears when eligibility of the student is taken into the consideration. The analysis is based on three stages. In the first stage, it analyses the decision to choose higher education for the population in the age group 18 to 29 years and the eligible population also. The second stage of the analysis based on multinomial logit model examines the choice of job-oriented courses over general courses. Lastly, the third stage analyses the role of identity in explaining the inter-group gap using the Fairlee decompositon method. The result shows that inequality exists across social and occupational background at aggregate level but it disappears when eligibility is taken into consideration. However, inequality is reproduced in terms of courses. The probability of choosing higher education is higher among regular salaried households (RS) than self-employed (SE) and casual labour households (CL) but students from RS households are more likely than SE and CL households to choose engineering and medicine over general courses. Students from underpriviledged social background namely scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribe and Muslims household are less likely to choose engineering over general course than High castes (HC) but Muslims and SC have higher chance of choosing medicine over HC. This is to note that income background of student remains an important determinant at all stages of analysis. Students from bottom 80 percent are disadvantaged than top 20 percent population in terms of choice of higher education as well as choice of job-oriented courses. The analysis shows that the improving income or financial support may reduce the gap across socio-religious groups but the group identity itself explains the substantial proportion of the gap in higher education as well as job-oriented courses.

Keywords: Higher education; Choice; Inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I2 I21 J7 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s42495-021-00077-y

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