The impact of caste and religious background on participation in higher education: evidence from Uttar Pradesh in India

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

Journal of Social and Economic Development, 2023, vol. 25, issue 1, No 5, 70-85

Abstract: Abstract This paper examines the status of unequal participation in higher education across caste and religious groups in Uttar Pradesh. It also examines the factors affecting participation in higher education and the role of students’ background in explaining the inequality in participation. The analysis, which covers higher education and professional education separately, shows that Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Muslims lag behind the privileged social groups. Even an improvement in income does not lead to an equitable improvement in participation. This indicates that group affiliation affects the participation of SCs, Other Backward Caste, and Muslims despite improving economic conditions. A large part of the gap remains unexplained among all the three underprivileged groups. So far as endowment variables are considered, education of the head and income background emerge as the most important factors explaining the gap. Economic factors explain the gap in professional courses better than general courses, especially among the better-off sections. Improving economic conditions may play an instrumental role in reducing inequality in professional courses. The findings suggest that different incentives created due to family background lead to different outcomes among different socio-religious groups. The policies for the inclusive expansion of higher education should take this into consideration.

Keywords: Higher education; Human capital; Inequality; Discrimination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 I23 J24 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s40847-022-00220-1

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