In our country, only about 11% of the college-going age group (18-23 years) actually goes to college. This is about half of the world average (23.2%) or the average for Asia (22%), and only one-fifth of the average for developed countries (54.6%). To reach the next stages of development, and to democratise opportunities for social mobility, India must raise the rate of enrolment in higher education substantially. To do this, we need to understand the factors that enable and disable entry into higher education.
This research project aims to study the factors which help or hinder students in the transition from high school to higher education. It is based in two cities – Hubli and Ajmer – in the states of Karnataka and Rajasthan, taken to be broadly representative of the educational system in the ‘north’ and the ‘south’, and chosen because of the researchers prior familiarity with these cities and their regions.
The study involves three main components:a) A survey of students from three schools (one government, one aided and one private), who took the 10th standard examination in 2003 or 2004. These years are chosen to allow for sufficient time for the transition to higher education to have occurred (or not). The Survey will attempt to cross-map the socio-economic origins of the students and their families with their current career status (in employment & higher education)
b) Intensive case studies of individual students and their families selected from the cohorts of the panel study, where cases will be selected according to a matrix of social background and career outcome attributes. Special attention will be devoted to anomalous and newly emergent groups.
c) A place-based ethnographic study in each research site that is based on the intensive case studies, but goes beyond them to produce descriptions of how educational institutions and opportunities are negotiated by different social groups, within the broader context of the higher education system in ‘southern’ and ‘northern’ India.
This study is being conducted under the direction of Professor Satish Deshpande, who is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics in Delhi University. It is supported financially by the Indian Council for Social Science Research, New Delhi, under the Ministry for Human Resource Development (through an ICSSR Senior Research Fellowship for Prof. Deshpande); and by the University of Delhi (through its Faculty Development Grant).
This is only a brief summary for interested members of the public, particularly in the two cities where the study is based. To get more information, or to communicate your questions or suggestions about this study, please contact Prof. Satish Deshpande by email (sdeshpande@sociology.du.ac.in) or by phone (9810044269 in Delhi, or 9535682318 in Hubli/Karnataka).