Abstract—Purpose of this paper is to present an idea that may
be retrofitted into present day education policies in India, in
order to mitigate the effect of the bias against students from
disadvantaged classes. Taking the case of higher education in
general and the Indian Institutes of Technology in particular,
the paper first presents the effects of globalization on policies
followed by the government’s short sightedness in policymaking
(like infusing reservations without required amendments)
leading to the persistence of the bias that makes gaining
admission and performing during the course of studies difficult
for students from disadvantaged classes. The paper rounds up
policies surrounding the issue and their inefficacies, and
concludes with a retrofit that could be employed in the short
term, whilst stating why it will help in negating the effects of the
bias.
Index Terms—Systemic bias, higher education in India,
students from disadvantaged classes, Indian Institutes of
Technology.
D. S. Sujlana is with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National
University of Singapore, Singapore (e-mail: digvijay.sujlana@u.nus.edu).
Cite: Digvijay S. Sujlana, "Resolving the Systemic Bias against Students from Disadvantaged Classes in Higher Education in India: The Case of Indian Institutes of Technology," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 135-139, 2017.