Interpreting the Disparity in Educational Attainment among Various Socio-religious Groups in India. (January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chaudhury, Anjan Ray
• Other Names: Bhanumurthy N. R. guest-editor.; Sensarma Rudra guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review. Volume 6:Number 1(2017:Jan.)
• Page Start: 73
• Page End: 89
• Publication Date: 2017-01
• Subjects: Returns to education -- educational decision -- Hindu-others -- Muslims -- inequality decomposition; Industrial management -- Periodicals; Industrial management -- India -- Periodicals; Industrial management -- Asia -- Periodicals; Business enterprises -- Periodicals; Business enterprises -- India -- Periodicals; Business enterprises -- Asia -- Periodicals; 658.005
• DOI: 10.1177/2277975216676430
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2277-9752

Abstract

This study is an attempt to identify the origin of disparity in educational participation and educational achievement among various socio-religious groups in India. To accomplish this objective, we run the logistic model of regression to estimate the differential influences of the monetary returns to education and some personal, household and community-related factors affecting educational decisions of the school-age children across the groups. Then we use the method of inequality decomposition applicable for logit/probit model and decompose the existing inequality in the proportion of educational participation between some pairs of the socio-religious groups into 'response effect' and 'attribute effect'. It is observed that there exists sharp disparity in educational participation among the various groups. A rise in estimated returns enhances the educational decisions of the members of the disadvantaged groups irrespective of their age and levels of education, but it can enhance the educational decisions of the members of the advantaged groups only at the upper end of their school-age. The percentage contribution of the 'response effect' of disparity in the rate of educational participation between Hindu-others and Muslims is greater compared to that of the 'attribute effect', but the former declines with the rise in the level of education. However, a significant proportion of the disparities in the educational participation between Hindu-others and Hindu-SC, and Hindu-others and Hindu-ST, is attributed to the characteristic differences at all levels of education except the middle.