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

2018-19学年，只有23%的落后种姓（SC）学生在印度中央大学就读本科课程。考虑到种姓决定了教育质量和机会，我通过我的项目提出了以下问题：“在种姓和财富导致的不平等日益加剧的情况下，我们如何使印度的高等教育更加公平？”这个自动人种志项目是一项智力任务，它将对印度高等教育的政治和社会学限制提供强有力的见解，从而制定改革该系统的战略方法。以德里大学（DU）为研究地点，我将采用定性的方法来追踪SC学生的经历，他们对学术环境感到准备不足，努力证明自己的优点，经常中途离开学位。我还将包括种姓团结组织、杜里大学排名最高的学院的教授和校长，以了解他们在将种姓制度制度化和再现不平等方面的作用。该项目是社会人类学、政策和发展研究的交叉点，青年是主要受益者。这是我继续强调种姓与南亚贫困和资源获取的相关性的努力。我将利用机构/网络人种学，通过国际上基于权利的发展方法来探索高等教育中的种姓制度，并呼吁制定更多促进公平的政策。由于高等教育仍然是精英的领域，高等教育的不平等加剧了社会的不平等，因此该项目具有全球相关性。如果没有从“精英进入阶段”到“大众进入阶段”的过渡，印度将难以实现“平等进入”的可持续发展目标……到2030年接受高等教育。种姓驱动的不平等如果得不到解决，将成为阻碍这一目标的主要因素。高等教育中的优点和不平等是全球普遍存在的现象，必须考虑通过文化力量改革来鼓励公平的政策。

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.