Unequal higher educational attainment across social backgrounds in West Bengal, India: a sociological analysis

Abstract

In India, class membership continues to play an important role in deciding educational attainment and quality life. The paper examines the influence of social stratification in higher education attainment in India with a particular focus on the state of West Bengal. Membership in a socially disadvantaged class and gender, type of educational institution, and household expenditure act as determinants of unequal higher education attainment. The author used the secondary data of the National Sample Survey (NSS) 2007–2008 data 64th round, schedule 25.2: “Participation and Expenditure in Education”. To understand the status of higher education attainment in West Bengal, a quantitative analysis was done. The NSS data collected from 5300 respondents were analysed to understand the status of higher education attainment of the disadvantaged sections. The findings show that social class and the economic status of the family of a person decide whether to continue the higher education or not. It indicates that inequality exists in higher educational attainment. Apart from the exclusion from educational opportunities, the existence of social exclusion acts as a determinant for depriving higher education attainment for the disadvantaged groups.

Keywords

• Social class
• caste
• disadvantaged groups
• exclusion
• higher education