Vocational education, skill training and self-employment: evidence from India’s non-farm sector

Abstract

ABSTRACT Does vocational education and skill training induce self-employment remains a significant open policy question in India. A connected question is how workers from different socioeconomic, demographic and educational settings relate their vocational education and skill training with employment type. In this paper, using nationally representative household survey data, we investigate how vocational education and skill training are associated with the uptake of self-employment activities (vis-à-vis wage employment opportunities) in the non-farm sector in India. This paper shows that individuals with vocational training are more likely to engage in self-employment activities than those with wage employment in the non-farm sector in India, with stark socioeconomic and demographic differences. Our results suggest significant gender and caste inequalities in self-employment based on their vocational education and skill training status. We also find some evidence suggesting that youth with vocational training opt for wage employment vis-à-vis self-employment than their older counterparts. Examining socioeconomic and demographic complexities in connecting vocational education and skill training with self-employment in this study aligns with the recent education and labour market policy of the Indian government.