Who Are the Victims of Gender Discrimination in the Choice of Stream of Education: Boys or Girls? A Study on Undergraduate Bengali Students of West Bengal, India

Abstract

Considerable evidence exists of discrimination against females in India in terms of entitlements, opportunities, social seclusion, access to food and medical attention. Education can be an important instrument to reduce gender discrimination. Lower investments are made in the education of females in India especially at higher levels of education. The career an individual pursues depends to a large extent on the choice of stream of education at the undergraduate level in India. Although corporate glass ceiling has been researched enough, few have explored collegiate glass walls. Sexism is a two-edged sword, and boys also pay a price in terms of excessive family and social pressures to perform. In this paper we specifically examine whether discrimination affects girl students or boy students more. We limited the study to the Bengali community as it is perceived to be progressive and non-discriminatory in terms of raising the girl and the boy child. Results of the study indicate that most undergraduate students feel boys and surprisingly not girls are discriminated against when choosing the stream of education at undergraduate level. Consequently, implications of the study are discussed.