"University Challenge": Inequity Practices and Caste Discrimination in Indian Higher Education

Merely 23 per cent of backward caste (SC) students were enrolled in undergraduate programmes in Indian central universities in 2018-19 (AISHE 2019). Given that caste determines quality and access, I evoke the following question through my proposed project: "How can we make Indian higher education more equitable in light of increasing caste and wealth-driven inequalities?" This auto-ethnographic project is an intellectual task that will shed powerful insights into the political and sociological constraints of Indian higher education to formulate strategic ways to reform the system. With the University of Delhi (DU) as the research site, I will employ qualitative methodology to trace the experiences of SC students who feel underprepared for the academic environment, strive to prove their merit and often leave the degree midway. I will also include Caste Solidarity groups, professors and principals of DU top-ranking colleges to understand their role in institutionalising casteism and reproducing inequality.

The project is at the intersection of social anthropology, policy and development studies, with the youth as the prime beneficiaries. It is a continuation of my efforts to highlight the relevance of caste to poverty and access to resources in South Asia. I will use institutional/network ethnography to explore caste in higher education through the international rights-based approaches to development and call for more equity promotion policies. The project is relevant globally as higher education is still the domain of elites, and inequality in higher education multiplies societal inequality. Without this transition from the "elite access phase" to the "mass access phase", India will struggle to meet the Sustainable Development Goal of "equal access... to tertiary education" by 2030. Caste-driven inequalities, if not tackled, will be the prime factor hindering this goal. Merit and inequality in higher education are phenomena found across the globe, and it is imperative to think about policies that encourage equity through a reformation of cultural power.