Empowering Marginalized Communities in India: The Impact of Higher Education

Education is a catalyst for economic growth, poverty reduction and social change that fulfills the physical, intellectual, social, economic, and emotional needs and conditions. Moreover, higher education is a medium through which social barriers and marginality can be overcome. In this context, the book critically analyses the challenges and possibilities of the marginalized communities―Dalits, minorities, persons with disabilities and women―in gaining greater access to the Indian higher education system. It also examines the importance of affordability, equity, quality and accountability as the main pillars of higher education. In addition, the experiences of marginalization are also addressed, given its sociological and psychological implications. Understanding inaccessibility to education as another form of marginalization that impacts an individual’s well-being, Empowering Marginalized Communities in India seeks to examine the potential of higher education to overcome inequality and the urgent need to create a more inclusive and equitable pedagogy.