Caste-based discrimination persists as a formidable barrier within Indian higher education, compelling Dalit students to employ university spaces not only for learning but as arenas for activism and social change. This dissertation explores the agency of Dalit students as they confront and dismantle systemic inequalities through strategic…

Dalit (the 'downtrodden') students continue to experience caste-based discrimination, humiliation and dehumanization; illegal practices that are being reproduced in the school system in the state of Odisha, India. Based on a research study organized by the Center for Research and Development Solidarity, an adivasi (original dweller/Scheduled…

Is there a strong correlation between caste and class in access to education, especially higher education? This is the broader question addressed by the study in the context of Kerala, the southernmost state in India, with impressive conventional indicators in education. Micro-level insights based on the study of a village in Kerala show that old…

In this paper, we illustrate a methodology to measure discrimination in educational contexts. In India, we ran an exam competition through which children compete for a large financial prize. We recruited teachers to grade the exams. We then randomly assigned child "characteristics" (age, gender, and caste) to the cover sheets of the…