Objectives

Following a scoping report on gender and education in Haryana undertaken by the project’s partners, the project aims are:

• To contribute to capacity building in Indian higher education through two funded doctorates and project activities such as methodological workshops.
• To establish which factors affect young people’s progression to higher education, and how these factors are gendered.
• To design, implement and evaluate a programme of actions that targets obstacles identified in the first stage of the study.
• To produce useful, robust evidence that may bring about social change.

Methods

Baseline evidence will initially be gathered about the gendered educational trajectories of students who are in their first year of higher education in the state of Haryana, and the factors which influenced their entry to and choice of higher education institution.

The evidence will be collected through biographical, narrative interviews and wider surveying methods with current students (first-year undergraduates including men and women, from a range of disciplines, and across the state of Haryana).

Higher education offers young people the possibility of a far wider range of opportunities in life. Through assessment of the communities that currently exist in the higher education system, the project will develop an understanding of who does and does not make it to higher educational level and reveal the challenges and barriers that result in some young people not being able to benefit from the opportunities that higher education offers.

Project Timeline

Collaboration and Consultation

The project is designed around principles of collaborative research, and it is integral to the investigative team's research philosophy that the project is beneficial to as many different groups as possible.

Key elements include:

• Project visits to UK and India to develop collaborations
• Collaborative working groups will be established:
  • Core project group (University of Warwick, Ambedkar University, NIEPA, TISS Mumbai)
  • Research advisory group comprising experts in the field of gender and education
  • Consultative group to include scholars working across Education Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, Human Rights and Socio-legal Studies, including early career researchers

The broad composition of the Consultative group will ensure that the project is being informed by a range of disciplinary perspectives and will provide a space where the project can be informed by colleagues from different stages of the academic career path.

• Two doctorates will be funded

There will be opportunities to be involved in events/discussions for future visits located in India, and opportunities for some members to visit the University of Warwick over the course of the five years.

Outcomes and Impact

The insights gained from the evidence gathering will be used to design and implement a small-scale targeted programme of actions. Further research will evaluate the process and results of the programme of actions.

The programme of actions will be conducted in collaboration with local partners and will be designed to produce social change in areas that have been identified by the baseline research.

The project is linked with Warwick’s interdisciplinary research network, the International Development GRP (Global Research Priorities).