What determines the quality of higher education? A study of commerce graduates in Kerala (India)

Abstract

The paper examines the quality of higher education in the Indian context in terms of subject knowledge (curriculum) coupled with analytical thinking and communication skills. The study identifies the factors that determine the quality of higher education and further explores whether there exists any difference in the quality of higher education based on the above three parameters between women and men and if so, in what way is this difference more revealing. In order to accomplish the aforementioned objectives, 416 students belonging to Commerce stream from 21 colleges affiliated under four universities in Kerala were selected as the respondents for an achievement test. The results indicate a low mean with a high variance in the learning outcomes. Although Kerala is one of the states in the country which has been remarkably successful in providing quality school education, when it comes to higher education, the State has not held its mark in providing quality education. Besides, an analysis based on the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition technique shows that a significant difference existing in the learning outcomes of male and female students related to analytical thinking is because of the coefficient differences. This implies that even with similar individual characteristics of students a significant difference exists, which can be attributed to the presence of gender discrimination in higher education.

Keywords:

• Higher education
• quality of education
• analytical thinking

JEL CODES:

• I23
• I21
• I20

Acknowledgement

The authors are thankful to the anonymous referees for their valuable comments and suggestions on the initial draft of the paper. The authors are also grateful to R. H. Itagi and Roshan Thomas for their help and suggestions. The usual disclaimers apply.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest is involved with this paper.

Notes

1 Besides the above private (aided) and government colleges, a large number of private (unaided) and self-financing colleges affiliated to different universities are also functioning in the state (Economic Review 2019).

2 The total number of Commerce students enrolled in various Arts and Science colleges (excluding unaided colleges) under the four general universities in Kerala during 2015–2016 was 39,923 out of which, 24,915 (62.41%) were girls (Economic Review 2016, p. 212).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Indrajit Bairagya

Indrajit Bairagya is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India. Prior to this, he was Assistant Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati Campus, India. He has his PhD in Economics from the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India. He has been awarded the Nancy Richard Ruggles Memorial Prize for the paper ‘Liberalization, Informal Sector and Formal–Informal Sectors’ Relationship: A Study of India’ from the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth (IARIW) in the year 2010. He has published a book titled ‘Liberalization and Performance of the Informal Sector: A Study of Indian Economy’, from Routledge-Taylor & Francis Group (London and New York). He has publications in various national and international journals including Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Journal of Asian Economics, International Journal of Educational Development, Journal of Developing Areas, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Indian Economic Review and Economic and Political Weekly etc. His research interests include the issues related to economics of education, education and labour, and quality of education.

Bino Joy

Bino Joy is presently working as an Assistant Professor at the Post Graduate Department of Commerce, Government College, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He has completed his PhD in Commerce from the Faculty of Commerce from Mahatma Gandhi University in 2009 on the topic ‘Motivation of School Teachers in Kerala – An Assessment of Quality Dimensions Consequent to Reforms in the Education Sector’. He has three books and several journal article publications in his credit so far. His research areas are mainly quality management of school education as well as higher education.