Nature of Access to Higher Education in India: Emerging Pattern of Social and Spatial Inequalities in Educational Opportunities

Abstract

AbstractThis study examines the emerging forms of social and spatial inequalities in access to higher education opportunities in India. Based on large-scale macro level data sets and field-based studies, the study reveals that expansion of higher education in India has improved the availability of higher education institutions, and access of the disadvantaged social groups to higher education has been promoted through affirmative action policies. But it has been accompanied by inter-regional inequalities in higher education opportunities; and social inequalities in access to elite institutions, high value academic subjects like science and engineering, and the learning outcomes. It is a combination of socio-economic-spatial factors that determines social inequalities in access to higher education opportunities in India. Regional inequalities in higher education development and socio-spatial differentiation in enrolment is a result of the economic processes reflected through the mechanism of establishment of private higher education institutions and their distribution across states. The students belonging to socially disadvantaged groups such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Castes and women lacking social capital formation and cultural capital accumulation face substantial barriers accessing elite higher education institutions and high value academic subjects. Further, geographical, social and pre-college educational pathway handicaps, including regional language as medium of instruction, negatively impact the academic performance and learning outcomes of students from the socially disadvantaged groups. The progressive and inclusive public policies and higher educational strategies can make higher education a catalyst for the creation of more equal societies.KeywordsHigher educationEquityRegional inequalitiesSocial inequalitiesEducational pathwaysIndia