Interplay between Education and Identity:

Abstract

This thesis lies at the intersection of two broad themes in economics: education and identity. Education is a primary tool for building human capital in economies. It has been recognised as the driver of economic prosperity as well as of social progress and institutional change. However, looking at education as an instrument of social change naturally brings in the equation the concept of social identity or simply identity. A social identity can be defined as a religious, racial, biological or geographical group with which an individual identifies herself. The three chapters in this thesis are dedicated to gaining an understanding about the interplay of education and identity in the context of India.

One of the primary dimensions of identity in the Indian society is caste (Deshpande 2011; Munshi 2016). Almost every person in the country, irrespective of her religion, identifies herself as belonging to a caste, even though it was originally a Hinduism concept (IHDS). The pervasiveness and the continued relevance of caste as a component of identity in India makes it a compelling candidate to study. The first broad aspect I examine about the relationship between education and identity is if and how education is associated with caste based practices. One of the central features of the institution of caste is caste endogamy (Bidner and Eswaran 2015). Endogamy serves the purpose of upholding caste boundaries and violations of this custom often invites punishment and social ostracism (Kaur 2010). The structure is extremely rigid and adherence is remarkably high even in modern India. Out-marriages, or inter caste marriages in this context, is a rare occurrence. In my first chapter, I examine if education can bring about a change in this centuries old practice of marrying within one's own caste, keeping in mind the "arranged marriage" aspect in the Indian society where marriages are mostly fixed by parents of the spouses.

Another major dimension of identity in India, and in general, is gender. The fundamental biological nature of this dimension makes it a basic identity trait in any human society. More importantly, a divergence in socioeconomic resources and outcomes along gender lines is also a reality in most societies (Giuliano 2020). Gender divide in educational outcomes is one such area of academic interest. While there is undoubtedly a gender gap in educational achievements, like literacy rate and enrollment rate (Census, 2011), a more curious aspect is when girls and boys studying alongside each other make vastly different educational choices. In particular, students in India have to choose specialized subjects of study after their matriculation in school and, interestingly, these choices show stark gendered patterns. This is the focus of the second chapter. It looks at the gender divide in subject choices of students after matriculation and explores the possible factors that can account for this gap.

The last chapter revisits caste as the dimension of identity but asks how caste identity might affect educational outcomes instead of the other way round. Access to education in India has historically been an elite privilege (Cheney et al. 2005). In the past, only the upper castes of Brahmins, the priests and teachers, and Kshatriyas, the warriors and protectors, enjoyed any form of education. The majority of the masses, consisting of castes lower in the hierarchy, remained uneducated (Deshpande 2011; Hnatkovska et al. 2012). This changed after Independence in 1947. Spreading education to the masses became a priority of the state of India (Cheney et al. 2005). On paper, this meant that an individual from any caste, religion or gender could get an education. To ensure that this was also true in practice, the Constitution of India implemented a system of affirmative action. It reserved seats for persons belonging to the historically marginalised castes (called the Scheduled Castes or SC) and tribes (called the Scheduled Tribes or ST) of India in political constituencies, government jobs and higher educational institutions. However, an inherent prejudice or apprehension against people from disadvantaged backgrounds is still a reality in many places (Hindustan Times (New Delhi, 19 September, 2012); News 18 (Saharanpur, 14 April, 2018)). People believe that the presence of students from lower caste families or poor families in general can have a negative impact on the quality of education of other students via, perhaps, lower class performance or increased indiscipline. The third chapter of my thesis explores this question in a peer effects framework. It examines the effects of peers belonging to scheduled castes and tribes on the academic performance of students.