Social Sciences and Humanities Open (Jan 2022)
Girls’ educational attainment at the higher secondary level across Indian states: Scenario and determinants
Abstract
The paper aims to explore twin objectives. Initially, an overview of the current scenario of girls' educational attainment at the higher secondary level across Indian states is presented. Then the paper explores the determining factors of the same. In this attempt, we scrutinize the role of poverty and women's autonomy on the educational attainment of girls' at the higher secondary level. The self-developed socioeconomic index is used as a proxy for poverty and women's autonomy is scaled by another self-developed index, viz., Women's Autonomy Index. The empirical analysis is facilitated by the applications of various statistical and econometric tools, suchlike Principal Component Analysis and regression analysis on the NFHS-4 data for 28 Indian states. The empirical results presume that enhancement of the socioeconomic status and women's autonomy escalates the girls' educational attainment at the higher secondary level. On the contrary, the religion Hindu, a proxy of socio-religious norms is the most important contributor in reducing the same. The study ends with suitable policy prescriptions based on empirical findings.
