Dalit Academic Experiences: Stigma, Caste Reproduction and Exclusion in Indian Higher Education

• In Event: Dissertation workshop session
  In Special Session: Critical Race Theory and Feminist Perspectives

Proposal

University of Massachusetts, Amherst (MA)
Advisor: Sangeeta Kamat

Abstract
Over the last decade, public universities in India have witnessed a significantly higher proportion of marginalized students, specifically, Dalit (stigmatized caste identity) students accessing public higher education. The presence of a significant and growing number of Dalit students on college campuses has changed the student demographic, and also shaken the historical hegemony of the higher castes. Studies have reported that subtle, explicit and complex discrimination drives Dalit students to academic failure, lower degree achievement rates, and even suicide due to the extremely hostile academic and social climate (Pal & Arjun, 2013). However, there is scarcely any research on the impact of the changed demographic and its implications for Dalit students and the campus climate at universities across the country. My study focuses on the lived experiences of Dalit students, and on the campus climate issues pertaining to discrimination in Indian higher education. The main research question of the study is: What are the experiences of Dalit students in their higher education journey in India? The following guiding questions will be pursued in the study:
1. What type of narratives do Dalit students tell to describe their higher education journey?
2. What are the experiences of discrimination or bias told by Dalit students themselves?
3. What is the level of interaction of Dalit students with peers, faculty, and the administration?
4. What are the perceptions of Dalit students regarding pedagogy and the academic environment in their classrooms?

The current scholarship promotes a superficial explanation of the dynamics of caste and reiterate the pervasiveness of caste-based discrimination in higher education. There has been hardly any effort to document the struggles, life histories, aspirations and perspectives of Dalit students that would give us an understanding of how caste politics, right-wing ideology, and casteism persist in the minutiae of university spaces. In this study, I argue that it is vitally important to focus on academic journeys and experiences of Dalit students in Indian academia. The study explores Critical Race Theory (Delgado, 1995a) Social Reproduction Theory (Bourdieu, 1986) and Diversity research (Hurtado et al., 2012), to develop a theoretical framework and policy to help conceptualize what an inclusive university space would look like in Indian context.
This study focuses on the academic journeys, lived experiences, and resilience of Dalit students in university life; therefore, the research explores the narrative research method to comprehend and encompasses various aspects of graduate Dalit students. The core aspect of narrative research is analyzing experiences and stories of participants that complement the crucial features of the critical race theory framework of the research. I have completed the field work and conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews and participant observations to understand graduate Dalit students’ experiences, perspectives and natural settings in a public university in Gujarat (India).
I have recorded thirty-six interviews of approximately 1 hour duration each, most of them in vernacular language Gujarati and few in the English language. Currently, transcribing the recordings and organizing my data for data analysis process. The New Scholars Dissertation Mentoring Workshop will facilitate new insights and ideas regarding the data analysis process. Further, the workshop will provide a great opportunity to interact and exchange ideas with peers and mentors to discuss similar research interests and also build a network to collaborate.
This research is informed by a comparative dimension with the United States (U.S.) higher education contexts that would inspire development of policies and programs to create socially just campus climate in Indian higher education. The campus climate framework is a relatively unknown in India academia; therefore, this study is intended to discuss institutional culture, practices, and contexts that contribute to a negative or exclusionary environment for Dalit students, and what changes would be required to create a positive climate for them. The research will contribute to public discussion, institutional and policy initiatives and new directions for future research on the topic.

Author

• Bharat Rathod, University of Massachusetts