Aspiring for distinction: gendered educational choices in an Indian village

Abstract

Schooling is not a benign process, rather the choice of schooling is often an opportunity for marginalised groups to creatively express particular sets of values in an attempt to gain distinction. Educational attainments carry the potential to open up a range of employment opportunities, but even if these options fail due to structural constraints, particular types of schooling are socially valued for the lifestyles, culture and values they inculcate. This paper, based on field research in Jharkhand, India, explores how people of different social categories make educational choices, focusing particularly on the gendered nature of both their aspirations and strategies for gaining distinction. The experience of state‐run schooling is compared to private (including mission) education, both in the locality and at a distance, the latter often perceived to provide higher‐quality English education by both parents and children.

Keywords:

• distinction
• schooling choice
• gender
• ethnicity
• India

Acknowledgements

The research was carried out as part of a larger project on ‘Gender Differences in Migration Opportunities: Implications for Educational Choices and Wellbeing Outcomes’, funded by the Development Research Centre on Globalisation, Migration and Poverty, whose support is gratefully acknowledged. I would like to thank the villagers of Mahari, the teachers as well as the district and Block officials in Sahebgunj and Borio for their support, and the two anonymous Compare reviewers for constructive suggestions and comments.

Notes

1. Article 342, Part XVI of the Constitution of India provides for public notification by the President to specify the tribes that shall be deemed as Scheduled Tribes and hence eligible for special provisions to promote their educational and economic interests (Bakshi 1992). The historical disadvantage of the entire group was thus politically recognised.

2. Name of the village and people quoted have all been changed.

3. See http://education.nic.in/ssa/ssa_1.asp (accessed 24 October 2008).

4. One pound is approximately Rs 80.

5. Jeffrey, Jeffrey, and Jeffrey (2008: 583–4) note the importance of money, social contacts, then knowledge, in that order for securing government jobs.

6. These teachers are locally recruited, on fixed‐wage contracts and not provided much training.

7. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is a Hindu right‐wing organisation, particularly hostile to missionaries and church groups in the state, seeing them as responsible for converting a large number of STs to Christianity, thus working against their cause of creating a Hindu nation.