The barriers and enablers to education among scheduled caste and scheduled tribe adolescent girls in northern Karnataka, South India: A qualitative study

Bhagavatheeswaran, L. et al. (2016) The barriers and enablers to education among scheduled caste and scheduled tribe adolescent girls in northern Karnataka, South India: A qualitative study. International Journal of Educational Development, 49, pp. 262-270. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.04.004)

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the barriers and enablers to scheduled caste/scheduled tribe (SC/ST) adolescent girls entering into, and completing secondary education in northern Karnataka, South India. In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 adolescent girls, their respective parent/guardian (n = 22) and 11 teachers, recruited purposively from 11 villages within two districts in northern Karnataka. Multiple barriers were identified to disadvantaged caste adolescent girls’ entry into and retention in education in this setting, and these operated at the individual, family, community and school levels. In addition, some enablers to education were also described. The study highlights the importance of involving multiple stakeholders to overcome the barriers to education for SC/ST girls, and of working to change beliefs and expectations around gender norms as well as improving the quality of education in this setting.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was carried out with the STRIVE research consortium which is funded by UKAID from the UK Department for International Development. The investigator was also able to receive a travel grant from LSHTM to assist with travel costs to Bangalore.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Schweisfurth, Professor Michele
• Authors: Bhagavatheeswaran, L., Nair, S., Stone, H., Isac, S., Hiremath, T., T., R., Vadde, K., Doddamane, M., Srikantamurthy, H.S., Heise, L., Watts, C., Schweisfurth, M., Bhattacharjee, P., and Beattie, T. S.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education; College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Educational Leadership & Policy
• Journal Name: International Journal of Educational Development
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0738-0593
• ISSN (Online): 1873-4871
• Published Online: 23 April 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 The Authors
• First Published: First published in International Journal of Educational Development 49:262-270
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a creative commons license