Pathways of Indian Students Transition Through Higher Education: Why do they differ?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52634/mier/2024/v14/i1/2564

Keywords:

Higher Education, Decision Making, Differential Pathways, Digital transition

Abstract

Differential pathways followed by the students deserve more attention due to the development of school education in general and higher education in particular during the last two decades in India. Due to the consistent efforts by the Indian government at the school education level, students arriving at the doors of higher education institutions are no longer homogeneous. As a result, the diversity of students in higher education institutions leads towards diversification of pathways followed by the heterogeneous segments of students. There is a real shortage of studies which have researched the students’ differential pathways through higher education in general and specifically in the Indian context from the micro perspective. This study examines the decision-making process and differential trajectories followed by the students during the transition from secondary to higher education. The methodology of the present study involves a mixed-method approach and data was collected from a sample of 900 senior secondary students. A Self-structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used for the collection of data. The findings reveal that the decision-making process of transition through higher education is complex and involves different stakeholders and timelines in the Indian context.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biography

Nishta Rana , Professor, MIER College of Education (Autonomous), Jammu, India.

 

 

Downloads

Published

2024-05-08

How to Cite

Wadhwa, R., Wani, M. A., & Rana , N. (2024). Pathways of Indian Students Transition Through Higher Education: Why do they differ?. MIER Journal of Educational Studies Trends and Practices, 14(1), 151–171. https://doi.org/10.52634/mier/2024/v14/i1/2564

Issue

Section

Articles

References

Akerlof, G. A. (1997). Social distance and social decisions. Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, 65, 1005-1027. https://doi.org/10.2307/2171877 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2171877

All India Survey Report on Higher Education. (2021). AISHE Reports 2021-22. Retrieved 2023-04-02, from https://aishe.gov.in/aishe/gotoAisheReports

Azam, M., & Blom, A. (2004). Progress in Participation in Tertiary Education in India from 1983 to. 2004 Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, 23, 125-167. Retrieved from https://ssrn.com/abstract=1315614

Basant, R., & Sen, G. (2010). Who Participates in Higher Education in India? Rethinking the Role of Affirmative Action. Economic & Political Weekly, 45(39), 62-70. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/25742122

Bhorkar, S. (2023). Public perceptions on education provision: The case for reforming India’s unequal school system. ORF issue brief no. 651. Retrieved from https://www.orfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ORF_IB-651_Public-perceptions-on-school-education-provision.pdf

Bloomer, M., & Hodkinson, P. (1997). Moving into fe: The voice of the learner. London: FEDA Report.

Bois-Reymond, D., & M. (1998). I don’t want to commit myself yet’: young people’s life concepts. Journal of Youth Studies, 1(1), 63-79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.1998.10592995

Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J. (1977). Reproduction in education, society, and culture. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Bradshaw, G. S., Espinoza, S., & Hausman, S. (2001). The college decision-making of high-achieving students. College and University, 77(2), 15- 22.

British Council. (2014). Understanding India: The future of higher education and opportunities for international cooperation. Retrieved from http://www.britishcouncil.org/sitesbritishcouncil.uk2/files/understanding_india_report.pdfon15/5/2023

Cabrera, A., & Nasa, S. L. (2000). Understanding the college choice of disadvantaged students. In A. Cabrera & S. L. Nasa (Eds.), Understanding the college choice of disadvantaged students (p. 5-22). Jossey Bass Publishers. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.10701

Ceja, M. (2006). Understanding the role of parents and siblings as information sources in the college selection process of Chicana students. Journal of College Student Development, 47(1), 87-104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2006.0003

Chapman, D. W. (1981). A model of student college choice. Journal of Higher Education, 52(5), 490-505. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.1981.11778120

Donnell, V. L., Kean, M., & Stevens, G. (2016). Student transition in Higher Education. Retrieved from https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-document-manager/documents/hea/private/resources/student_transition_in_higher_education_1568037357.pdfon6/6/2023

Foskett, N. H., & Hemsley-Brown, J. (2001). Choosing futures: Young people’s decision-making in education, training and career markets. London: Routledge.

Gale, T., & Parker, S. (2014). Navigating change: a typology of student transition in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 39(5), 734- 753. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2012.721351

Gandara, P. (2002). A study of high school Puente: What we have learned about preparing Latino youth for postsecondary education. Educational Policy, 16, 474-495. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904802016004002

Goldrick-Rab, S., Carter, D. F., & Wagner, R. W. (2007). What higher education has to say about the transition to college. Teachers College Record, 109(10), 2444-2481. Retrieved from https://torcschools.hshs.schooldesk.net/Portals/Torcschools/Hshs/docs/Pearlman/Collegearticle1.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810710901007

Hass, C., & Hadjar, A. (2020). Students’ trajectories through higher education: A review of quantitative research. Higher Education, 79, 1099-1118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00458-5

Hossler, D., Schmit, J., & Vesper, N. (1999). Going to college: How social, economic, and educational factors influence the decisions students make. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Jackson, G. A. (1982). Public efficiency and private choice in higher education. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 4, 237-247. Joshi, K. M., & Ahir, K. V. (2016). Higher Education growth in India: Is growth DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737004002237

appreciable and comparable? Retrieved 2023-02-04, from https://core.ac.uk/reader/222956450

Macrae, S., Maguire, M., & Ball, S. (1996). Opportunity knocks: Choice in the post-16 education and training market. In Markets in Education: Policy, process and practice, Vol. 2: Markets in Post-Compulsory Education. Southampton, UK: Centre for Research in Education Marketing, School of Education, University of Southampton.

Mcdonough, P. M. (1997). Choosing colleges: How social class and schools structure opportunity. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Payne, J. (2003). Choice at the end of compulsory schooling: A research review. Retrieved from https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/RR414.pdf

Quinn, J. (2010). Rethinking ‘failed transitions’ to higher education. In K. Ecclestone, G. Biesta, & M. Hughes (Eds.), Transitions and learning through the life course (p. 118-129). London, UK: Routledge.

Ravi, S., Gupta, N., & Nagaraj, P. (2019). Reviving Higher Education in India. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Reviving-Higher-Education-in-India-email-1.pdf

Reay, D. (1998). Always Knowing and Never Being Sure: Institutional and Familial Habituses and Higher Education Choice. Journal of Education Policy, 13, 519-529. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0268093980130405

Rosenbaum, J. E., Deil-Amen, R., & Person, A. (2006). After admission: from college access to college success. New York: Russell-Sage.

Sabharwal, N. S., & Malish, C. M. (2017). Student Diversity and Challenges of Inclusion in Higher Education in India. International Higher Education, 91, 25-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2017.91.10136

Sinha, S. (2018). Regional Disparities in Availability, Access and Equity in Higher Education in India. In N. V. Varghese, N. S. Sabharwal, & C. M. Malish (Eds.), Education Report 2016 on Equity (p. 131-168). New Delhi: Sage Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9789353280611.n6

Tilak, J. B. G. (2015). How inclusive is higher education in India? Social Change, 45(2), 185-223. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0049085715574178

Tilak, J. B. G., & Choudhary, P. (2019). Inequalities in access to higher education in India between the poor and the rich. Working paper 1. Retrieved from http://csdindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Prof-Tilak-Inequality-in-Access-to-Higher-Education-in-India.pdf

Varghese, N. V., Sabharwal, N. S., & Malish, C. M. (2019). Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education in India. In CPRHE Research Paper 12. New Delhi: NIEPA.

Wadhwa, R. (2017). Unequal Origin, Unequal Treatment and Unequal Educational Attainment: Does being first generation still a disadvantage in India? Higher Education, 76(2), 279-300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-017-0208-z DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-017-0208-z

Weiss, F., & Roska, J. (2016). New Dimensions of educational inequality: Changing patterns of combining college and work in the US over time. Research in social stratification and mobility, 44, 44-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2016.02.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2016.02.001