Unequal origin, unequal treatment, and unequal educational attainment: Does being first generation still a disadvantage in India?

• Published in: Higher education 2018-08, Vol.76 (2), p.279-300
• Main Author: Wadhwa, Rashim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Ausland; Caste; Comparative Analysis; Cultural Capital; Cultural factors; Economic aspects; Education; Educational aspects; Educational Attainment; Educational inequality; Educational systems; Equal Education; Equal opportunities; Equal opportunity; Equality; Family Income; First generation; First Generation College Students; First generation students; Foreign Countries; Geographic Location; Higher Education; Indien; Inequality; Lehre; Majors (Students); Secondary education; Secondary School Students; Secondary Schools; Social Capital; Social Class; Social inequality; Space; Student; Student Surveys; Students; Studium; Victims
• ISSN: 0018-1560; 1573-174X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10734-017-0208-z

The Indian higher education system is supposed to be the source of equal opportunities to all students irrespective of their life circumstances. Does it succeed in realizing this ideal? In fact, the system of higher education inadvertently plays a critical role in constructing and recreating the inequalities between groups. The prime victims of inequality are first-generation students, whose disadvantages are unseen, their voices ignored and left on their own. In India, first-generation students are typically confronted with the dynamics of caste-based inequality in addition to their deficiency in the cultural and social capital. In this context, the purpose of this study was to examine if being a first-generation student had a significant influence on educational attainment. The field survey data of 900 senior secondary students was employed for the analysis. For the purpose of analysis, educational attainment was measured in terms of completion of higher secondary school and entry into higher education. The findings of the study confirm the difference in educational attainment between first-generation students and their counterparts. Results of logistic regression indicate that the location, category, family income, academic achievement, stream of education, and social and cultural capital are the pertinent factors which influence the educational attainment of first-generation students. (HRK / Abstract übernommen).