Empowering a Marginalized Population Through Higher Education: Narratives of Nepali Dalits

• In Event: Navigating Educational Challenges

Abstract

This paper explores the transformative power of higher education in empowering Dalits, a marginalized group from South Asia. Dalits face educational disadvantages, political disenfranchisement, economic exploitation, and social exclusion. The study highlights how higher education acts as a catalyst for personal, social, and economic empowerment of Dalits.

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with four Nepali Dalit participants who completed higher education degrees in the United States. Using a narrative inquiry approach within social constructionism and critical theory frameworks, this study provides a platform for Nepali Dalits to share their stories. Their narratives reveal how they construct and interpret the challenges encountered during their higher education journey and the perceived impact of higher education on their social mobility.

Author

• Khem Sedhai, University at Albany - SUNY