Caste, gender, and intersectionality in stream choice: evidence from higher secondary education in India

Journal: Education Economics

Abstract: This study quantitatively documents the role of social identities of gender and caste in STEM choice at the higher secondary level of education in India. The study shows that these social identities significantly influence the science stream choice even after controlling for various observable factors at the household level and regional fixed effects. While the effect of caste-based identities can be in part explained by differences in household resources between the caste-based social groups, the effect of gender identity remains largely unexplained by the differences in observable characteristics. Heterogeneity analysis also reflects on some of the drivers of these gaps, especially highlighting the role of access to schools, science stream, and teachers’ social identity in this context. The analysis also shows that the interaction between gender and caste identities results in additive disadvantages for the female students of the SC and the OBC groups, but not for the ST group. Thus, the social identity of gender affects choices differently from the social identity of caste, and the interaction of these two identities results in unique disadvantages for some groups.