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India’s Higher Education Now Majority Marginalized: A Decade of Change

From underrepresentation to majority: How caste dynamics in India’s universities transformed over a decade. The data challenges old assumptions—and demands new solutions.

In this picture there are few women wearing graduation dress which is in black color.
In this picture there are few women wearing graduation dress which is in black color.

India’s Higher Education Now Majority Marginalized: A Decade of Change

The research was led by Prof. Venkatramanan Krishnamurthy, Thiyagarajan Jayarajan, and Prof. Dina Banerjee from the Centre for Development Policy and Management (CDPM) at IIM Udaipur. Their team examined All-India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) records spanning 60,380 institutions and 43.8 million students. The investigation, titled A new analysis of India's higher education landscape, was conducted under the Centre for Data Preparation and Analysis (CDPA) at the same institute.

The study highlights a significant demographic shift in India’s higher education system. With SC/ST/OBC students now forming the majority, the data could influence future policies on reservations and access. Experts continue to debate how best to refine these measures for greater equity.

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