This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ The Experiences of Dalit Students and Faculty in one Elite University in India An Exploratory Study Ovichegan, Samson Keyghobad Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to: Share: to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 06. Nov. 2017 This electronic theses or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Title: The Experiences of Dalit Students and Faculty in one Elite University in India: An Exploratory Study Author: Samson Ovichegan The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. 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The Experiences of Dalit Students and Faculty in one Elite University in India: An Exploratory Study Samson Keyghobad Ovichegan March 2013 Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in Sociology of Education King‘s College London 1 Abstract Through an exploratory study undertaken in one ‗elite‘ University in India, this thesis attempts to illuminate the experiences of a small set of students and faculty who are members of the Dalit caste – the so-called ‗untouchables‘, who are relatively ‗successful‘ in that they attend or are academics at this prestigious University. The first part of the thesis provides a background to the study; the role of caste and its enduring influence on social relations in all aspects of life; family, education, occupation, marriage, are explored and explained. The first part of the thesis also reviews one major policy designed to challenge some of the debilitating effects of caste. The Quota System policy was designed in the 1950s as an early form of affirmative action to ensure that higher education institutions retained fifteen percent of their places for Dalit students; the same proportion of faculty was also expected to come from this background. The study then moves to a critical account of the current experiences of Dalit students and faculty in one setting; the University of Shah Jahan (pseudonym). Drawing on a set of in-depth semi-structured interviews, the empirical study that is at the centre of this thesis explores the perceptions of staff and students in relation to the Quota policy and their experiences of living, working and studying in this elite setting. The data chapters are organised in such a way as to first explore the faculty views. The experiences of students are then examined; there is a focus on the way in which their caste is still an everyday part of how they are sometimes ‗othered‘. There is also a focus on the experiences of Dalit female students; an under researched cohort. Finally, the thesis turns to another under-researched matter. The Dalit are not a homogenous social group; indeed, as a consequence of the small gains made by affirmative legislation over time, such as the Quota policy, there is a new fraction of middle class Dalit that is emerging, the so-called ‗creamy layer‘. The final data chapter explores the complexity involved for this relatively privileged group of Dalit in using the Quota policy to ensure access into an elite 2 university while sometimes ‗passing‘ as not being a Dalit in order to ensure positive social relations at the University. Finally, the study considers the impact and influence of the Quota policy in terms of social justice issues and offers suggestions for further research in the area. 3 Acknowledgements At the beginning, this thesis seemed like an enormous task to complete. I thank my primary supervisor Professor. Meg Maguire, and secondary supervisor Professor. Sharon Gewirtz. Professor Maguire has been a great support, and often encouraged and guided me well with correct suggestions and necessary comments while in the process of my degree programme. I also thank my mom Mary. K. Ovichegan who helped me enormously, supporting me all the way through my studies in this degree programme; and my wife Sabeen for being my emotional support and sustenance. Also, I would like to thank my mentor Dr. David through whom I was able to get hold of the interviewees that I needed for my research. And I am also grateful and thankful to all my interviewees (both Dalit faculty and students) who took time off from their busy schedules to accommodate my research interview sessions. Their personal life experiences, knowledge and expertise within their respective fields brought immense contribution to the development and finalization of this thesis. Above all, I would like to thank God Almighty for guidance, wisdom and health, and without whose help nothing is possible. 4 Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................2 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................4 Contents...................................................................................................................5 Overview of Thesis ................................................................................................ 10 Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................ 14 Caste, the Dalit and Education in India .............................................................. 14 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 14 2. Caste: an Historical Perspective ..................................................................................... 15 2.1 The Dalit (‘Untouchables’) ....................................................................................... 16 2.1.1 Origins of the ‘Dalit’ Caste .................................................................................... 17 2.1.2 Exclusion and Discrimination – ‘Race/Class and Caste’ ................................ 20 3. The Caste System: Socio-Cultural Positioning in Indian Society ............................. 21 4. The Dalit and Education: Brief Overview of the Early Years (1850-1920) ........... 25 4.1 The Educational System in India: Pre- and Post-Independence (1920-1950) 27 4.2 Caste and Education: Dr. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi ............................ 29 4.3 The Post-British Educational System in India (1950 – present) ....................... 30 5. Synopsis: the Dalit and the Indian Educational System Today ................................ 32 7. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 35 A. Timeline on the legislative framework for affirmative action in education in the context of economic and political changes including the rise of Dalit activism and the formation of the Dalit Institute. .................................................................................. 36 B. International Conventions on Dalit Equal Education Rights .................................. 37 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................... 38 A Critical Exploration of the Quota System Policy and Related Social Justice Issues ..................................................................................................................... 38 Introduction...........................................................................................................................